THE  LIFE 

OF 

JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


»    ••-•?• 


•  .  •      • 


Jfowrn/stfrJlM 


THE  LIFE  OF 
JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

AS  GATHERED  CHIEFLY  FROM  HIS  LETTERS 


BY 

EDWARD    SANDFORD    MARTIN 


Rt<ft        '" 


INCLUDING 

HIS    OWN    STORY   OF   HIS    BOYHOOD 

AND   YOUTH 


VOLUME  I 


»      •  4      • 


LONDON 

CONSTABLE  &  CO.,  Ltd. 

1920 


arsoS'Z 


Copyright,  1920,  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons 
for  the  United  States  of  America 


Printed  by  the  Scribner  Press 
New  York,  U.  S.  A. 


INTRODUCTION 

The  reader  will  promptly  discover  that  this  life  of 
Mr.  Choate  is  not  so  much  a  biography  after  the  manner 
of  Plutarch  as  a  compilation.  The  chief  contributor,  by 
far,  is  Mr.  Choate  himself,  whose  writings,  public  and 
private,  make  up  four-fifths,  or  more,  of  the  book.  His 
recollections  of  his  boyhood  and  youth,  with  which  the 
book  begins,  were  dictated  by  him  during  his  convales- 
cence from  a  long  illness  in  the  early  months  of  1914. 
They  stand  very  much  as  they  came  from  his  lips,  for 
when  the  war  came  along  it  distracted  his  mind  from 
them,  and  he  neither  went  on  with  them  nor  revised 
what  had  been  written. 

These  volumes  by  no  means  contain  a  complete  rec- 
ord of  his  important  activities,  but  it  is  hoped  that  by 
the  glimpses  they  give  of  him  as  he  passes  he  can  be 
kept  sufficiently  in  sight  to  follow  his  career.  The  book 
will  serve,  too,  a  purpose  worth  serving  if  it  makes 
clear  the  extraordinary  discipline  and  training  and  the 
power  of  intense  application,  as  well  as  the  brilliant  gifts 
and  charming  nature,  that  made  possible  the  remarkable 
public  services  that  distinguished  Mr.  Choate's  life,  and 
in  particular  the  last  eighteen  years  of  it. 

I  have  borrowed — whenever  it  could  be  done  to  ad- 
vantage— from  newspapers,  commentators,  and  eulogists. 
A  series  of  scrap-books,  kept  for  forty  odd  years  and 
covering  more  or  less  Mr.  Choate's  experiences  as  am- 
bassador, supplemented  the  long  series  of  letters  which 
could  be  drawn  upon. 

V 

458058 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

To  Mr.  Root,  for  a  long  extract  from  his  address  on 
Mr.  Choate,  and  to  Mr.  William  V.  Rowe,  for  light 
thrown  on  the  swift  procession  of  Mr.  Choate's  law 
cases,  I  make  especially  my  grateful  acknowledgments. 
Obligations  to  many  other  contributors  will  be  noticed  in 
the  text. 

Mr.  Choate's  courage  was  often  remarked.  Part  of  it 
was  consciousness  of  power,  but  the  better  one  knows 
him,  and  follows  the  details  of  his  walk  and  conversa- 
tion, the  deeper  is  the  assurance  that  back  of  all  there 
was  the  condition  that  Horace  found  in  his  friend  de- 
scribed as 

Integer  vitx,  scelerisque  purus, 

— and  afraid  of  nothing. 

E.  S.  M. 


CONTENTS 

A  FRAGMENT  OF  AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

PAGE 

Boyhood  and  Youth,  by  Joseph  H.  Choate i 

ANCIENT  HISTORY  —  HOG  ISLAND — CHILDHOOD  —  SALEM  — 
HARVARD  COLLEGE — TRAINING  FOR  THE  BAR — EARLY  DAYS 
IN   NEW   YORK — AT  THE   NEW   YORK   BAR — MARRIAGE. 


In  Salem  and  at  Harvard 137 

a  letter  from  salem — cambridge  and  harvard — sparks 
and  everett — antislavery  days — george  thompson, 
abolitionist — the  flow  of  the  undergraduate  soul — 
inspecting  the  new  west. 

II 

Early  Days  in  New  York 161 

in  mr.  evarts's  office — new  year's  calls — snow — social 
life — corruption  of  city  government — edward  ever- 

ETT's     ORATION     ON     WASHINGTON — FIRST     FEES — POLITICAL 

ACTIVITIES — JOINS  A  FREMONT  CLUB A  STATE  MILITIAMAN 

SPEAKER  IN  FREMONT  CAMPAIGN PANIC  OF  '$7 A  CHRIS- 
TIAN-SOCIALIST CELEBRATION — STARTS  OUT  FOR  HIMSELF — 
BECOMES  A  PARTNER  OF  MR.  EVARTS. 

Ill 

Marriage  and  the  Civil  War 217 

lincoln — fort  sumter — war — new  york  astir — mas- 
sachusetts troops — his  engagement — marriage — a  wed- 
ding journey  to  niagara  falls — starting  modestly  in 

married  life housekeeping  in  2 1  st  street the  draft 

riots the    gibbonses summer     separations family 

correspondence mr.    evarts    as    attorney-general 

domestic    chores — after-dinner    speeches — "all    det- 

MOLD." 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS 

IV 

PAGE 

In  the  Seventies 289 

A  SUMMER  IN  NEWPORT — ECHOES  OF  THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN 
WAR — RIDGEFIELD — BUYS  A  HOUSE  IN  47TH  STREET — THE 
FIGHT  WITH  TWEED  AND  TAMMANY — A  WEDDING  AT  WINDSOR 
IMPRESSIONS  OF  QUEBEC REVISITS  NIAGARA  FALLS RAIL- 
ROAD    SUIT     IN     RICHMOND FITZ-JOHN     PORTER     CASE VAN- 

DERBILT  WILL  CASE — FIRST  TRIP  ABROAD — VISITS  IN  LONDON 
AND  PARIS — WASHINGTON — RICHMOND. 

V 

The  Eighties     . 344 

Garfield's  assassination — cesnola  libel  suit — attitude 
towards  cases — family  gossip  from  stockbridge — the 

butler  commencement another  commencement  dinner 

devotion  to  harvard — harvard  club  dinner — death 

of  ruluff  choate — winans  case hard  beset hoyt  case 

brearley  school banque  case starting  a  new  eng- 
land society  in  brooklyn — the  new  england  dinners — 
alpha  delta  phi  reunion — burden  case. 

VI 
The  Nineties 406 

tyranny  of  things — croker — to  a  school-boy — in  wash- 
ington  behring    sea    case — stockbridge    in    march 

aqueduct    case letters    from    stockbridge hopkins- 

SEARLES — TILDEN   WILL    CASE SEEN    AT  THE    PATRIARCHS* 

A    DREAM CROWDING    WORK — IN    EUROPE GREAT    OFFENSE 

TO  THE  IRISH A  SKETCH  FROM  THE  " TRIBUNE" AS  SEEN  BY 

REPORTERS — THE  CHICAGO  FAIR — AMENDING  THE  CONSTITU- 
TION— A  MEDAL  TO   PRESIDENT  ELIOT VANDERBILT  DIVORCE 

CASE — LAIDLAW   VS.    SAGE. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Joseph  Hodges  Choate  at  the  age  of  seventeen    Frontispiece 

From  a  daguerreotype  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Choate. 

FACING  PAGE 

Gamaliel  Hodges  (i  766-1 850) 6 

Grandfather  of  J.  H.  C.     From  the  pastel  portrait  painted  in  Antwerp. 

Hog  Island 20 

Named  from  the  shape  of  the  land. 

Choate  Homestead  on  Hog  Island.     Built  in  1725    .      .       20 

Rufus  Choate  (1 799-1 859) 86 

Joseph  Hodges  Choate  at  the  age  of  twenty       .      .      .     150 

From  a  daguerreotype  taken  at  the  time  of  his  graduation  in  1852.   The  original 
is  in  the  Harvard  Library  at  Cambridge. 

William  M.  Evarts  (1818-1901) 178 

From  a  portrait  painted  by  William  M.  Hunt  in  the  seventies. 

Doctor  George  Choate  (1 796-1 880) 214 

From  a  photograph  taken  when  he  was  about  sixty-six  years  old. 

Joseph  Hodges  Choate 252 

Caroline  Sterling  Choate 252 

From  photographs  taken  about  1863 — two  years  after  their  marriage. 

Mrs.  George  Choate  (1805- 1887) 384 


THE  BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH 

OF 

JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


A  FRAGMENT  OF  AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ANCIENT  HISTORY 

A  long  confinement  to  my  room  and  bed,  for  the  first 
time  in  more  than  eighty  years,  threw  me  in  upon  my- 
self for  many  weary  days  and  nights,  and  left  me  nothing 
to  study  but  the  pictures  on  the  walls  of  my  room;  but 
these  served  as  stepping-stones,  as  it  were,  in  the  progress 
of  a  long  and  happy  life,  and  reminded  me  of  the  many 
requests  of  my  children  and  others  that  I  should  put 
upon  paper  some  of  its  reminiscences. 

I  believe  it  was  Doctor  Holmes  who  said  that  a  child's 
education  should  begin  a  hundred  years  before  he  was 
born,  and  I  think  mine  began  at  about  the  period  he 
indicates. 

To  begin  with,  there  is  the  portrait  of  my  sturdy 
maternal  grandfather,  Gamaliel  Hodges — Captain  Mill 
Hodges,  as  he  was  always  called  in  Salem,  where  he  was 
born  and  lived,  and  where  he  died  in  1850.  It  is  only 
a  silhouette,  but  represents  a  sturdy  and  fine  old  figure 
at  seventy,  full  of  life  and  health,  and  good  for  many 
years  to  come. 

It  was  he  who  brought  into  our  line  the  size  and 
strength  and  length  of  days  that  has  stood  us  so  well 
in  hand  for  three  generations  at  least.  It  was  his 
twenty-five  years  before  the  mast  and  on  the  quarter- 
deck, full  of  fresh  air  and  salt  water,  that  gave  us  our 
good  constitutions;  and  if  I  was  able  to  maintain  a  very 
strenuous  life  at  the  bar  for  forty  years  and  at  the  same 
time  to  give  to  public  service  all  the  attention  that  a 
private  citizen  should,  I  owe  it  more  to  him  than  to  any- 
body else. 


4  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

If  he  had  had  a  full  education  he  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  a  very  prominent  character  in  Massachusetts, 
but  he  never  went  beyond  the  common  schools  at  Salem, 
which  at  that  date  must  have  been  of  an  extremely  primi- 
tive character.  He  told  me  that  in  1776,  at  the  age  of 
ten,  he  heard  the  Declaration  of  Independence  read  on 
Salem  Common,  and  it  made  a  lifelong  impression  upon 
him;  but  what  showed  the  limited  quantity  of  his  edu- 
cation was  that  he  never  went  beyond  the  three  R's — 
Reading,  Writing,  and  Arithmetic — at  the  school  that 
he  attended,  and  that  every  day,  when  the  hour  came 
for  dismissing  school,  the  boys  all  rose  and  recited  to- 
gether, "Honorificabilitudinitatibus,"  and  with  the 
"bus"  all  started  for  the  door  with  a  shout. 

That  was  the  sum  of  all  his  schooling;  for,  like  all 
Salem  boys  of  well-to-do  families  in  those  days,  he  took 
to  the  sea  at  fifteen,  which  served  him  as  college  and 
university  through  all  the  grades,  as  cabin-boy,  seaman, 
supercargo,  second  mate,  first  mate,  and  captain,  and 
only  retired  when  he  had  become  not  only  the  master 
but  owner  of  his  ship.  The  largest  ships  of  that  day 
were  of  six  or  seven  hundred  tons,  which  could  easily 
get  into  Salem  Harbor,  and  permitted  it  to  be  the  chief 
seaport  of  Massachusetts.  And  when  larger  vessels  came 
in,  that  could  not  get  in  there,  commerce  moved  to  Bos- 
ton and  New  York,  with  their  commodious  harbors. 

I  never  knew  where  this  unpronounceable  word  that 
gave  the  sign  for  the  dismissal  of  this  school  came  from 
until  some  years  afterwards,  when  I  found  it  in  the  mouth 
of  Holofernes,  the  schoolmaster  in  "Love's  Labor's 
Lost,"  who  seemed  to  have  made  a  similar  use  of  it. 
Now  my  grandfather,  I  am  sure,  had  never  read  Shake- 
speare, and  I  doubt  whether  his  teacher  had.     It  must 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  5 

have  been  a  word — if  we  can  call  it  a  word — that  came 
down  through  tradition  in  the  schools,  handed  from 
mouth  to  mouth,  and  crossing  the  Atlantic  with  the  first 
settlers.  And  I  have  no  doubt  that  for  centuries  before 
that  it  had  been  used  in  a  similar  way  in  the  Latin  schools 
of  early  centuries,  for  I  find  that  it  occurs  in  manuscripts 
at  least  as  early  as  the  twelfth  century,  in  the  "Catholi- 
con"  of  Johannes  of  Janua,  1286,  and  in  Dante's  "De 
vulgari  eIoquio,,,  and  in  late  middle  Latin  dictionaries. 
The  idea  seems  to  have  been  that  any  boy  who  could 
spell  that  could  spell  any  word  in  any  language. 

At  any  rate,  Gamaliel  Hodges'  stalwart  form  has 
served  us  well  ever  since.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the 
tallest  man  in  Salem,  and  at  his  best,  or  worst,  weighed 
no  less  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  And  his 
brothers  were  of  like  stature,  for  the  story  is  told  that 
when  all  three — he  and  Benjamin  and  George — were 
standing  together  on  Derby  Wharf,  the  master  of  a  for- 
eign vessel  coming  up  the  dock,  exclaimed:  "Is  this  a 
land  of  giants?"  He  had  no  nerves  whatever,  and  is 
believed  to  have  gone  through  his  long  life  of  eighty- 
five  years  without  any  illness  until  that  which  finally 
carried  him  off. 

But  the  Choates  of  our  line  were  generally  a  nervous 
race,  full  of  vitality  and  mental  action,  without  the 
Hodges  stamina,  dying  or  failing  early,  and  perhaps 
lingering  into  old  age  in  a  somewhat  weakened  condi- 
tion. It  was  this  blend  of  two  such  different  stocks  by 
the  union  of  my  father  and  mother  that  proved  such  a 
happy  one  for  their  posterity. 

There  is  another  portrait  of  Gamaliel  Hodges  in  my 
library,  representing  him  as  a  spruce  young  American 
shipmaster,   about  twenty-five  years  old,   in  what  ap- 


6  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

pears  to  have  been  the  sort  of  uniform  for  such  com- 
manders at  that  period.  It  was  painted  in  Antwerp 
when  he  was  there  in  command  of  a  ship,  and  his  cocked 
hat,  red  waistcoat,  ruffled  shirt,  with  a  spy-glass  under 
his  arm,  set  him  off  to  advantage.  Strange  to  say,  it 
bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  one  of  his  great-grand- 
sons, showing  how  features  are  sometimes  transmitted  to 
distant  posterity  to  one  out  of  many  descendants. 

There  is  a  story  worth  noting  about  this  picture.  My 
lifelong  friend,  Captain  John  S.  Barnes,  who  was  a  naval 
commander  in  the  Civil  War,  came  into  my  library  one 
day,  and  as  his  eyes  fastened  upon  this  picture  he  ex- 
claimed, with  uplifted  eyes  and  hands:  "Where  did  you 
get  that  picture?" 

Well,  I  told  him  I  had  seen  it  at  least  seventy  years 
ago  in  my  grandfather's  house  in  Salem,  and  it  came 
direct  to  me  from  there  when  that  house  was  broken 
up.  "Why,"  he  said,  "that  cannot  be.  That  is  a  por- 
trait of  John  Paul  Jones." 

It  seems  that  Captain  Barnes  had  purchased  in  Paris 
a  portrait  of  John  Paul  Jones,  at  a  high  cost,  and  which 
he  had  treasured  very  carefully  ever  since  out  of  admira- 
tion for  that  hero,  and  he  said  I  must  be  mistaken  about 
the  subject  of  the  portrait.  Nothing  would  satisfy  him, 
however,  but  to  bring  his  own  picture  and  set  it  side  by 
side  with  mine.  And  then  it  appeared  plainly  enough 
that  the  only  resemblance  between  the  two  was  in  the 
cocked  hat,  the  red  waistcoat,  the  ruffled  shirt,  the  spy- 
glass under  the  arm,  and  a  similar  air  of  the  sea  in  both 
pictures — a  ship  and  the  salt  water  being  in  the  back- 
ground. 

I  have  heard  that  in  those  days  it  was  the  fashion 
with  young  American  shipmasters,  when  in  foreign  ports, 


GAMALIEL  HODGES  (1766-1850). 
Grandfather  of  J.  H.  C.     From  the  pastel  portrait  painted  in  Antwerp. 


«  I  •      ♦. 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  7 

to  get  their  portraits  painted  to  bring  home  to  their 
families,  and  very  likely  these  two  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  same  artist.  So  he  kept  his  portrait,  and  I  mine, 
both  perfectly  satisfied  with  our  treasures. 

My  grandmother,  Sarah  Williams,  who  married  Ga- 
maliel Hodges  in  1788,  was  a  model  of  the  domestic 
virtues.  She  had  eight  children,  five  sons  and  three 
daughters,  of  whom  my  mother,  Margaret  Manning 
Hodges,  born  in  1805,  was  the  youngest. 

She  was  of  tiny  stature,  much  less  than  half  the  size 
of  her  husband,  which  saved  her  children  and  grand- 
children from  becoming  giants  by  reducing  them  to 
reasonable  stature.  Always  serene,  placid,  and  indus- 
trious, she  lived  and  thought  in  the  good  old  style,  as 
if  the  object  of  her  life  was  accomplished  by  taking  good 
care  of  her  husband  and  children,  and  she  satisfied  the 
old  adage  that  the  best  women  in  the  world  are  those 
of  whom  the  world  hears  least. 

She  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  being  one  year  younger 
than  her  husband  and  dying  three  months  before  him, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-three.  But  before  the  end  she  got, 
tired  of  life,  and  for  many  years  I  remember  her  sitting 
in  the  chimney-corner  and  occasionally  exclaiming:  "The 
Lord  has  forgotten  me.  The  Lord  has  forgotten  me." 
Her  husband,  with  whom  she  had  lived  in  happy  union 
for  sixty-two  years,  could  not  bear  to  live  without  her, 
and  followed  her  to  the  grave  in  less  than  three  months. 

It  is  through  her  that  we  trace  our  direct  descent  from 
the  most  distinguished  of  all  our  ancestors  on  either  side, 
Philip  English,  the  first  great  merchant  of  Salem  and 
presumably  of  New  England.  He  introduced  into  our 
lineage  the  only  strain  of  foreign  blood  that  I  can  find 
on  either  side. 


8  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

He  was  born  in  the  Island  of  Jersey  and  his  real  name 
was  Phillippe  L' Anglais.  He  was  baptized  June  30th, 
1 65 1,  in  Trinity  Parish,  Isle  of  Jersey,  where,  on  a  visit 
to  that  island  in  1902,  I  verified  the  record  of  his  birth. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  of  Huguenot  blood,  and  came 
to  Salem  about  1670,  where  he  soon  after  married  Mary 
HoIIingworth,  daughter  of  William  HoIIingworth  by  his 
wife,  who  is  described  as  "the  accomplished  and  beau- 
tiful Eleanor  Story." 

As  I  have  traced  my  grandmother's  descent  from 
him,  it  was  thus: 

Philip  English's  daughter  Mary  married  Captain  Wil- 
liam Brown  before  1730.  Their  son,  William  Brown, 
married  Abigail  Archer,  widow  of  John  Elkins  of  Salem. 
Their  daughter,  Abigail,  married  Captain  William  Wil- 
liams, an  English  master  mariner,  and  their  daughter, 
Sarah  Williams,  born  in  March,  1767,  was  my  grand- 
mother. 

Strangely  enough,  two  generations  before,  another 
Gamaliel  Hodges,  my  grandfather's  grandfather,  had 
married  another  Sarah  Williams,  through  whom  we  were 
connected  with  many  interesting  Salem  families. 

Philip  English,  after  his  settlement  in  Salem  and  mar- 
riage with  Miss  HoIIingworth,  proved  to  be  its  most 
enterprising  and  successful  citizen.  He  built  and  owned 
twenty-seven  vessels  and  carried  on  a  great  commercial 
trade,  acquired  large  tracts  of  land,  some  of  them  through 
his  wife,  and  built  at  the  foot  of  Essex  Street,  overlook- 
ing the  harbor  across  to  the  Beverly  shore  and  the  Mar- 
blehead  shore,  a  fine  old  gabled  house  of  large  dimensions 
for  that  day,  besides  fourteen  other  valuable  houses, 
and  seems  to  have  been  universally  respected  and 
honored. 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  9 

But  "the  whirligig  of  time,"  as  Shakespeare  says, 
"brings  in  its  revenges,"  and  when  the  strange  witch- 
craft delusion  broke  out  in  1692  his  eminence  and  great 
success  brought  upon  him  and  his  wife,  probably  because 
of  envy  at  their  success  and  high  character — they  were 
considered  as  too  aristocratic — the  charge  of  being  guilty 
of  witchcraft. 

They  were  both  arrested  and  lodged  in  Boston  jail, 
from  which  they  managed  to  escape  and  took  refuge 
in  New  York  City,  which  has  always  been  the  asylum 
of  the  oppressed,  where  they  remained  until  the  delusion 
had  subsided.  Otherwise  their  names  would  certainly 
have  been  included  with  the  other  twenty  victims  of 
that  terrible  delusion. 

After  their  return  he  was  for  many  years  an  applicant 
to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  for  relief  and 
compensation  for  the  injuries  that  he  had  sustained  by 
reason  of  the  wicked  charge. 

But  so  rapidly  did  the  delusion  die  out  when  the  awful 
bubble  had  once  burst,  that  on  their  return,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  they  are  said  to  have  been  welcomed  home 
with  bonfires  and  other  marks  of  rejoicing,  and  he  lived 
for  thirty  or  forty  years  longer. 

The  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  English  is  dated  at 
Salem,  April  30th,  1692.  It  is  directed  to  the  marshal 
of  the  County  of  Essex  and  requires  him  "in  their  Ma- 
jesties' names  to  apprehend  and  bring  before  us  Phillip 
English  of  Salem,  merchant,  at  the  house  of  Lt.  Na- 
thaniell  Ingersalls  in  Salem  Village  [that  is  the  "Witch 
House* '  that  is  still  standing]  in  order  to  theire  Examina- 
tion Relateing  to  high  Suspition  of  Sundry  acts  of  witch- 
craft donne  or  Committed  by  them  upon  ye  Bodys  of 
Mary  Walcot  Marcy  Lewis  Abigail  Williams  Ann  Put- 


io  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

nam  and  Elizabeth  Hubbert  and  Susannah  Sheldon: 
viz:  upon  some  or  all  of  them  belonging  to  Salem  village 
or  farmes  whereby  great  hurt  and  dammage  hath  benne 
donne  to  ye  Bodys  of  said  persons  according  to  com- 
plaint of  Capt  Jonathan  Walcot  and  Serjent  Thomas 
Putnam  in  behalf  of  their  Majesties  for  themselves  and 
also  for  severall  of  theire  neighbours." 

On  the  2d  of  May,  George  Herrick,  marshal  of  Essex, 
reports  Philip  English  cannot  be  found,  whereupon  a 
new  warrant  was  issued  to  the  marshal-general  or  his 
lawful  deputy,  and  restating  that  he  cannot  be  found, 
the  marshal  is  authorized  to  apprehend  him  and  convey 
him  into  Salem  and  deliver  him  into  the  custody  of  the 
Essex  marshal.  And  the  marshal-general's  deputy  re- 
ports that  "In  obedience  to  the  within  written  warrant 
the  within  remanded  Phillip  English  was  arrested  and 
committed  by  the  Marshall  General  to  the  Marshall  of 
Essex,  on  the  30th  of  May  instant."  But  nevertheless 
he  and  his  wife  did  escape. 

And  this  is  some  of  the  evidence  which  is  worth  re- 
lating as  showing  the  horrible  character  of  that  delusion : 

"The  complaint  of  Susanna  Sheldon  against  Phillip 
English,  the  said  Susanna  Sheldon  bieng  at  meeting  on 
the  Sabboth  day  being  the  24  of  Aprill  shee  being  aflicted 
in  a  very  sad  manner  she  saw  phillip  English  step  ouer 
his  pew  and  pinched  her  and  a  womane  which  came  from 
boston  wich  saith  her  name  is  good  ne  when  shee  were 
coming  home  against  William  Shaws  house  their  met  her 
Phillip  English  and  a  black  man  with  a  hy  crowned  hatt 
on  his  head  and  a  book  in  his  hand  houlding  the  book 
to  her  and  Phillip  english  told  her  that  Black  man  were 
her  God  and  if  shee  would  tuch  that  boock  he  would 
not  pinch  her  no  more  nor  no  body  els  should. 

"on  the  next  day  phillip   English   came   again   and 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  n 

pinched  her  and  told  her  that  if  shee  would  not  toutch 
the  book  hee  would  kill  her. 

"On  the  second  day  at  night  apeared  to  her  two 
women  and  a  man  and  brought  their  books  and  bid  her 
touct  them  shee  told  them  shee  would  not  shee  did  not 
know  wher  they  Iiued  on  of  them  told  her  they  lived  at 
the  village  and  heald  the  book  to  her  again  and  bid  her 
touch  it.  shee  told  her  shee  did  not  know  their  names 
on  of  them  told  her  shee  was  old  Goodman  bucklyes 
wife  and  the  other  woman  was  her  daughter  Mary  and 
bid  her  touch  the  book,  shee  told  no  shee  had  not  told 
her  how  long  shee  had  beene  a  witch,  then  shee  told  her 
shee  had  beene  a  witch  ten  years  and  then  shee  opened 
her  brest  and  the  black  man  gau  her  two  little  things  like 
yong  cats  and  she  pit  them  to  her  brest  and  suckled 
them  they  had  no  hair  on  them  and  had  ears  like  a 
man." 

The  whole  New  England  community  appears  to  have 
gone  mad  and  to  have  committed  at  the  instigation  of 
a  handful  of  malicious  and  foolish  girls  a  terrible  mas- 
sacre of  twenty  of  their  fellow  citizens,  among  them  some 
of  the  most  cultivated,  pious,  and  innocent  people  in 
the  world.  Giles  Corey,  a  man  over  eighty  years  old, 
was  pressed  to  death  by  order  of  the  court  for  refusing 
to  plead  to  the  indictment  against  him.  And  all  this 
was  done  at  the  instigation  of  the  clergy  of  New  Eng- 
land, headed  by  Cotton  Mather,  obsessed  with  the  con- 
viction that  the  Devil  was  among  them  laboring  in  per- 
son to  corrupt  and  destroy  the  State. 

Certainly,  my  ancestor  was  extremely  fortunate  to 
escape  with  his  life.  I  read  that,  not  finding  his  person, 
they  seized  upon  and  confiscated  1,500  pounds'  worth 
of  his  goods,  and  after  many  years  he  recovered  judg- 
ment against  the  marshal  for  60  pounds  and  was  awarded 


12  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

200  pounds  by  the  commonwealth  for  his  indemnity,  a 
very  sorry  satisfaction  for  all  his  suffering. 

Choate  seems  to  have  been  a  very  old  English  name 
among  the  better  sort  of  English  yeomen.  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  Lord  Acton,  a  great  historical 
authority,  soon  after  my  arrival  in  England  for  a  long 
residence,  and  he  said  to  me: 

"Why,  I  have  seen  your  name  spelled  exactly  as  it  is 
now,  in  English  annals  as  early  as  the  fourteenth  century." 

Foolishly  enough,  I  did  not  think  to  ask  him  for  a 
reference  to  the  book  where  this  could  be  found,  and 
very  soon  afterwards  he  died,  and  the  knowledge  of  that 
died  with  him. 

The  name,  however,  did  to  a  slight  extent  emerge 
from  obscurity  in  England  early  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, when  Thomas  Choate,  son  of  Thomas  of  Essex 
entered  Christ  College  at  Cambridge  University  in  the 
same  year  with  John  Milton,  1624.  The  records  also 
show  that  he  remained  there  for  four  years  and  took  his 
degree  with  Milton  in  1629,  and  being  in  the  class  for 
four  years,  they  must  often  have  met,  and,  at  least,  have 
become  familiar  acquaintances. 

In  the  Biographical  Register  of  Christ's  College,  issued 
in  1 91 3,  this  entry  appears: 

"Choate,  Thomas:  son  of  Thomas.  Of  Essex  School: 
Wethersfield,  under  Mr.  Cosen. 

Admitted  pensioner  under  Mr.  Gell — 
November  1624  B.A.  1629. 

Probably  brother  of  John  Chote  or  Choate, 
who  went  to  America  and  became  ancestor 
of  Joseph  Hodges  Choate,  United  States 
Ambassador  to  England,  1 899-1 905." 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  13 

Pensioners  at  that  date  represented  the  sons  of  well- 
to-do  people  like  Milton,  whose  father  at  that  time  was 
a  scrivener  and  stationer  in  London. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  verify  this  identification  of 
Thomas  as  the  brother  of  my  ancestor  John,  but  there 
are  many  things  that  tend  to  confirm  it,  among  these 
that  John  named  his  third  son  Thomas,  and  in  the  settle- 
ment of  his  estate,  provision  was  made  for  the  comple- 
tion of  the  education  of  his  youngest  son,  Benjamin, 
at  Harvard.  The  family  tradition  has  always  been  that 
our  immigrant  ancestor  was  the  John  Choate  who  was 
baptized  by  that  name  in  the  old  church  at  Groton,  in 
England,  on  the  6th  of  June,  1624.  I  verified  this  record 
in  the  parish  church,  the  same  church  in  which  Adam 
Winthrop,  father  of  John  Winthrop,  was  buried. 

Professor  Masson,  in  his  elaborate  history  of  Milton, 
which  is  really  for  the  period  covered  by  it  a  history  of 
England,  records  that  Milton  was  one  of  forty-three 
students  who  commenced  their  academic  course  at 
Christ's  College  in  the  year  1624. 

"It  will  be  noted  that  eight  of  the  students  in  the 
above  list  entered  as  'lesser  pensioners,'  among  whom 
were  Milton,  Pory  and  Choate,  four  as  'sizars,'  and  but 
one  as  a  'greater  pensioner.'  The  distinction  was  one 
of  rank.  All  the  three  grades  paid  for  their  board  and 
education,  and  in  this  respect  were  distinct  from  the 
'scholars'  properly  so  called,  who  belonged  to  the  foun- 
dation. But  the  'greater  pensioners'  or  'fellow-com- 
moners'  paid  most.  They  were  usually  the  sons  of 
wealthy  families;  and  they  had  the  privilege  of  dining 
at  the  upper  table  in  the  common  hall  along  with  the 
Fellows.  The  'sizars,'  on  the  other  hand,  were  poorer 
students;  they  paid  least;  and,  though  receiving  the 
same  education  as  the  others,  they  had  a  lower  rank 


i4  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

and  inferior  accommodation.  Intermediate  between  the 
greater  pensioners  and  the  sizars  were  the  'lesser  pen- 
sioners'; and  it  was  to  this  class  that  the  bulk  of  the 
students  in  all  the  Colleges  at  Cambridge  belonged.  Mil- 
ton, as  the  son  of  a  London  scrivener  in  good  circum- 
stances, took  his  natural  place  in  becoming  a  'lesser 
pensioner.'  His  school-fellow,  Robert  Pory,  who  en- 
tered the  college  in  the  same  year  and  month,  and  chose 
the  same  tutor,  entered  in  the  same  rank.  Milton's 
father  and  Pory's  father  must  have  made  up  their  minds, 
in  sending  their  sons  to  Cambridge,  to  pay  about  £50 
a  year  each,  in  the  money  of  that  day  which  was  equiva- 
lent to  about  £180  or  £200  a  year  now"  (that  is,  in  1881), 
and  we  must  conclude  that  Thomas  Choate's  father  did 
the  same. 

To  have  been  in  the  same  little  college  with  John  Mil- 
ton continuously  for  four  years  must  have  insured  to 
him  a  liberal  education. 

I  have  no  doubt  of  the  substantial  accuracy  of  the 
statement  that  there  was  a  near  relationship  between 
Thomas  of  Christ's  and  our  ancestor  John  Choate,  and 
we  may  believe  that  the  family  at  that  date  was  in  fairly 
good  circumstances. 

John  Choate,  from  whom  all  the  people  of  the  name 
in  America,  now  found  in  great  numbers  in  all  the  States 
of  the  Union,  are  descended,  appears  to  have  arrived  in 
Ipswich  from  the  old  country  in  or  about  the  year  1643. 
The  earliest  mention  of  him  in  the  records  is  in  1648, 
when  he  appears  in  a  list  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-one 
persons  who  subscribed  to  a  fund  to  pay  Major  Daniel 
Dennison  for  giving  military  instruction.  There  is  a 
tradition  that  he  came  from  Sudbury,  in  England,  which 
is  on  the  border  of  Suffolk  and  Essex,  but  by  what  vessel 
he  came  or  for  what  reason  is  wholly  unknown. 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  15 

Like  most  of  the  other  immigrants  of  that  time,  who 
were  in  moderate  circumstances,  he  absolutely  lost  all 
connection  with  the  relatives  whom  he  had  left  behind 
him.  There  were  no  mails,  no  newspapers,  no  regular 
communication  between  the  mother  country  and  the 
colonies.  Now  and  then  at  rare  intervals  a  vessel  from 
the  old  country  arrived,  but  it  was  very  easy  to  lose  all 
association  with  or  knowledge  of  the  relatives  and  friends 
they  had  left  behind  them. 

That  he  was  of  good  courage  and  character  is  mani- 
fest from  the  progress  that  he  made  after  his  arrival  in 
Ipswich.  That  he  went  diligently  to  work  and  made 
rapid  progress  in  acquiring  property  and  social  connec- 
tions is  clear.  In  1660  he  married,  but  as  the  first  records 
of  the  church  in  Ipswich  have  been  lost  and  the  town 
records  at  the  beginning  were  very  badly  kept,  there  is 
no  register  of  his  marriage  and  no  means  of  ascertaining 
the  surname  of  his  wife  or  to  what  family  she  belonged. 
But  her  Christian  name  was  Ann,  by  which  name  she 
is  referred  to  in  his  will  as  "my  dear  and  beloved  wife, 
Ann  Choate."  That  is  all  that  is  known  of  her  origin, 
but  it  is  hoped  that  her  family  name  will  yet  be  discov- 
ered. 

He  was  diligent  in  his  business  and  acquired  a  very 
considerable  estate,  so  that  by  his  will  he  was  able  to 
give  substantial  farms  or  tracts  of  real  estate  to  four  of 
his  five  sons  and  a  handsome  legacy,  as  things  were  at 
that  time,  to  each  of  his  two  daughters.  An  inventory 
made  of  his  estate  amounted  to  405  pounds  and  13 
shillings,  and  his  will  was  witnessed  by  the  celebrated 
minister  of  Ipswich,  John  Wise,  to  whose  congregation 
he  belonged,  and  Andrew  Brown. 

His  eldest  son  disputed  the  will  because  he  did  not 
receive  by  it  a  double  portion,  as  seems  to  have  been 


16  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

the  fashion  at  that  time,  and  a  settlement  was  made 
between  the  widow,  representing  herself  and  two  minor 
sons,  Joseph  and  Benjamin,  and  the  other  three  chil- 
dren. In  the  agreement  by  which  the  estate  was  settled, 
provision  was  made  for  Benjamin  until  he  "comes  to 
commence  Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  to  help  bring  up  the 
said  Benjamin  in  and  at  said  College  to  that  time."  We 
know  that  he  was  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1703,  the 
earliest  of  the  name  in  the  catalogue,  but  this  provision 
which  was  made  by  the  settlement  in  1697  must  have 
covered  the  period  of  two  years  at  school  before  he  en- 
tered Harvard. 

John  Choate  and  his  third  son,  Thomas,  have  one 
truly  valuable  title  to  distinction,  and  that  is  that  at 
the  height  of  the  witchcraft  delusion,  when  almost  every- 
body else  was  mad,  they  had  the  courage  to  sign  a  pro- 
test in  behalf  of  John  Proctor  and  his  wife  who  are  de- 
scribed *  as  "now  in  trouble  and  under  suspition  of 
witchcraft,"  which  was  in  the  highest  degree  significant. 
The  protest  was  headed  by  John  Wise;  and  the  signatures 
of  John  Choate,  Sr.,  and  Thomas  Choate  appear  among 
the  inhabitants  of  Ipswich  who  joined  in  it  for  the  rescue 
of  two  of  the  most  conspicuous  victims — their  neighbor 
and  his  wife.  Among  other  things  they  say:  "What 
God  may  have  left  them  to,  we  cannot  go  into  God's 
pavilion  clothed  with  clouds  of  darkness  round  about; 
but,  as  to  what  we  have  ever  seen  or  heard  of  them,  upon 
our  consciences  we  judge  them  innocent  of  the  crime 
objected.,,  As  Upham,  in  his  "History  of  Salem  Witch- 
craft," has  truly  said:  "It  is  due  to  the  memory  of  these 
signers  that  their  names  should  be  recorded,  and  their 

*  In  "  Records  of  Salem  Witchcraft, "  vol.  I,  W.  Elliot  Woodward,  Roxbury, 
Mass.,  1864. 


ANCIENT  HISTORY  17 

descendants  may  well  be  gratified  by  the  testimony  thus 
borne  to  their  courage  and  justice.,, 

He  had  another  greater  title  to  distinction  in  that  he 
was  the  progenitor  of  a  long  and  widely  scattered  family 
that  in  each  generation  has  done  good  service  for  its  coun- 
try. AH  of  the  sons  and  the  two  daughters  married  and 
had  children.  The  families  were  large  in  those  days  and 
there  is  no  wonder  that  in  two  hundred  and  forty-five 
years  his  seed  has  been  widely  disseminated. 

His  third  son,  Thomas,  from  whom  we  are  descended, 
was  evidently  more  enterprising  than  either  of  his 
brothers,  for  he  married  three  times;  first,  in  1690,  when 
he  was  nineteen  years  old;  second,  in  1734,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-three;  and  third,  in  1743,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two  ;  showing  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  incurring  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  matrimony  and  paternity.  His  nine 
children  all  married  and  all  had  children,  none  of  them 
less  than  four  and  one  as  many  as  twelve. 


HOG  ISLAND 

Thomas  Choate,  who  was  born  in  1671  and  died  in 
1745  at  the  age  of  seventy-four,  appears  to  have  been 
a  man  of  uncommon  vigor  and  enterprise.  He  was  un- 
doubtedly a  great  farmer  and  a  leading  citizen  of  Ips- 
wich, and  their  representative  in  the  General  Court  for 
four  years.  He  it  was  who  acquired  the  land  on  Hog 
Island  where  he  and  his  descendants  have  to  this  day 
continually  resided. 

Life  on  the  island,  as  everywhere  in  Ipswich  in  his 
time,  must  have  been  extremely  simple  and  primitive. 
The  habits  and  customs  of  the  people  cannot  have  changed 
much  since  the  earliest  settlement  of  the  colony,  and  the 
only  communication  with  the  outside  world  appears  to 
have  been  when  the  head  of  the  family  was  sent  to  rep- 
resent the  town  at  the  meetings  of  the  General  Court 
in  Boston. 

The  old-fashioned  New  England  discipline  prevailed. 
The  father  was  the  real  head  of  the  family;  the  mother 
was  the  mediator  between  him  and  the  children,  who 
were  entirely  subject  to  his  sway. 

His  third  son,  Francis,  was  my  ancestor,  born  in  1701 
and  died  in  1777,  and  that  generation  appears  to  have 
come  into  great  prominence  in  local  and  even  State  af- 
fairs. It  has  been  said  that  among  all  the  Choate  an- 
cestors none  were  so  illustrious  for  their  piety  as  were 
Esquire  Francis  and  his  good  wife  Hannah.  He  was  a 
ruling  elder  and  is  credited  with  having  been  a  tower 

of  strength  in  the  Whitefield  Movement,  and  to  the  end 

18 


HOG   ISLAND  19 

of  his  life  the  right-hand  man  of  his  pastor,  the  Reverend 
John  Cleveland.  Like  many  men  of  his  time  he  was  a 
slaveholder,  but  in  his  will  he  provided  for  the  freedom 
of  his  slaves  or  for  their  comfortable  support  should  they 
become  aged  and  unable  to  work. 

But  it  was  his  elder  brother,  Colonel  John  Choate, 
who  first  of  the  family  enacted  a  distinguished  part  in 
public  affairs.  In  all  that  concerned  the  commonwealth 
he  was  extremely  active  and  useful,  and  was  evidently 
a  forceful  character  of  great  ability  and  activity.  Be- 
tween 1 73 1  and  1760  he  was  elected  fifteen  times  as  rep- 
resentative of  Ipswich  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  for  five  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Council.  Dur- 
ing his  long  term  of  legislative  service,  he  appears  to 
have  been  on  all  important  committees  and  on  many 
special  commissions.  He  was  called  upon  to  do  duty 
on  all  sorts  of  important  subjects.  In  1741  he  was  elected 
speaker  of  the  House,  but  Governor  Belcher  seems  to 
have  been  displeased  and  dissolved  the  House  before 
anything  further  was  done. 

The. subjects  on  which  Colonel  John  Choate  was  em- 
ployed included  the  Land  Bank,  the  settlement  of  the 
boundary  between  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts,  an 
inquiry  as  to  who  were  formerly  sufferers  as  Quakers 
or  on  account  of  witchcraft  and  what  satisfaction  had 
been  made  by  the  General  Court  to  such  sufferers,  on 
bills  of  credit,  to  ascertain  their  rate  with  gold  and  silver, 
and  also  on  the  bills  of  credit  of  other  provinces,  on  the 
payment  of  taxes  and  other  financial  matters.  He  went 
on  the  expedition  against  Louisburg  with  the  recruits 
raised  for  that  service,  for  which  he  had  leave  of  the  House 
to  be  absent,  and  was  commissioned  judge-advocate  of 
the  Court  of  Admiralty  at  Louisburg  after  his  arrival 


20  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

there  with  his  troops.  He  also  served  on  the  committee 
on  encouraging  manufactures  and  other  industries  of  the 
province.  He  was  chosen  by  the  two  Houses  commis- 
sioner to  meet  the  Six  Nations  of  New  York.  From  1735 
to  the  time  of  his  death,  thirty  years  afterwards,  he  was 
constantly  employed  on  important  business  for  the  com- 
monwealth. 

And  this  did  not  distract  him  from  purely  local  affairs, 
for  in  1764,  the  year  before  his  death,  he  built  the  famous 
Choate  bridge  over  the  Ipswich  River,  a  stone  bridge  of 
beautiful  proportions,  which  still  stands  secure  as  on 
the  day  it  was  opened,  although  its  low  arches  were  such 
a  novelty  in  that  region  that  its  collapse  with  the  first 
heavy  load  that  went  over  it  was  loudly  predicted,  and 
great  multitudes  are  said  to  have  gathered  to  witness 
the  catastrophe. 

His  nephew,  Stephen  Choate,  son  of  his  brother 
Thomas,  is  also  my  ancestor,  his  daughter  Susannah 
having  married  my  grandfather  George  Choate,  her 
cousin,  and  this  Stephen,  born  in  1727  and  who  died 
in  1 81 5,  was  also  a  great  public  character,  besides  having 
thirteen  children  and  a  great  troop  of  descendants. 

In  1 774  he  was  elected  on  the  committee  of  correspon- 
dence which  had  so  much  to  do  with  the  origin  of  the 
great  movements  for  independence  which  resulted  in 
the  establishment  of  the  United  States  as  an  independent 
nation.  He  entered  the  General  Court  as  a  representative 
from  Ipswich  in  May,  1776,  when  the  court  held  its  ses- 
sion at  Watertown,  Boston  being  in  the  hands  of  the 
British  soldiers,  and  from  that  time  he  was  annually 
re-elected  until  1779,  after  which  he  became  a  member 
of  the  Senate  and  still  later  of  the  Council.  He  served 
for  many  years  as  county  treasurer  and  was  a  constant 


HOG  ISLAND. 
Named  from  the  shape  of  the  land. 


tfr^l              J^jSC^M 

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vfpffi 

1      3     FT  ■kS 

*   JIM          ' 

JnV^-^^^BBaft 

- 

CHOATE  HOMESTEAD  ON  HOG  ISLAND.     BUILT  IN  1725. 


:  i 


HOG   ISLAND  21 

and  most  useful  public  servant,  and  finally  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  State  convention  that  framed  the  celebrated 
Constitution  of  Massachusetts  of  1780,  which  created 
for  that  State  a  government  of  laws  and  not  of  men.  It 
was  indeed  the  ideal  model  for  all  State  constitutions. 

Not  only  by  what  he  accomplished  in  life,  but  by  the 
pictures  of  him  that  have  come  down  to  us,  it  is  evident 
that  Stephen  Choate  was  a  man  of  strong  and  robust 
character  and  of  unyielding  tenacity  of  purpose.  He 
had  a  great  old  Roman  nose,  which  still  reappears  oc- 
casionally in  the  family,  and  a  chin  that  showed  his  in- 
domitable will.  And  the  charming  picture  of  his  wife, 
Mary  Low,  which  faces  his,  proves  her  to  have  been  true 
to  her  vow  to  "love,  honor,  and  obey." 

John  Choate,  the  son  of  Elder  Francis,  was  a  delegate 
to  the  State  convention  that  ratified  and  adopted  the 
Federal  Constitution  in  1788,  in  which  he  seems  to  have 
taken  an  active  part  in  support  of  the  Constitution  and 
seems  to  have  had  a  clear  appreciation  of  the  merits  of 
that  great  instrument,  under  which  we  still  live.  He 
participated  intelligently  in  the  debates,  especially  on 
the  subject  of  taxation,  as  appears  in  "Elliot's  De- 
bates" and  in  those  published  by  the  legislature  in  1856. 

But  I  must  resume  the  story  of  my  direct  descent. 
William  Choate,  son  of  Francis,  born  on  Hog  Island 
September  5,  1730,  was  the  grandfather  of  my  father. 
For  many  years  he  followed  the  sea,  and  became  a  ship- 
master and  owned  vessels  as  well  as  commanded  them. 
Retiring  from  that,  he  established  a  school  on  Hog  Island 
and  gave  his  children  an  excellent  education. 

I  have  in  my  possession  his  family  Bible,  not  only 
dog-eared  but  the  corners  fairly  worn  away  by  the  pious 
hands  that  turned  them,  and  by  this  it  appears  that  every- 


22  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

thing  on  Hog  Island  was  regulated  by  the  tides,  as  they 
could  only  reach  the  mainland  at  highest  water.  I  tran- 
scribe the  entries  of  his  family  from  this  Bible,  as  long 
as  he  lived  on  the  island: 

"William  Choate  (son  of  Francis  Choate)  &  Mary 
Giddings  (daughter  of  Job  Giddings)  were  married  Jan'y 
1 6th,  1756,  and  October  18th,  1756  had  a  son  born,  who 
lived  but  about  four  weeks — since  had  other  children  born 
(viz.) 

"David  Choate  was  born  November  29th,  1757,  Tues- 
day in  ye  morning. 

"William  Choate  was  born  Friday,  August  10th,  1759 
at  high  water. 

"George  Choate  was  born  Wednesday,  February  24th, 
1764,  low  water  in  ye  morning." 

So  inveterate  had  the  habit  become  of  registering  and 
commemorating  the  births  of  the  children  by  the  tide 
that,  even  after  they  had  moved  away  from  the  island 
to  the  mainland  and  lived  on  farms  looking  across  the 
brook  to  the  island,  they  continued  for  a  long  time  to 
record  the  births  of  the  children  in  the  same  way,  for 
in  the  same  Bible  I  find  the  family  record  of  my  grand- 
father, George  Choate,  as  follows: 

"George  Choate,  son  of  Captain  William  Choate  and 
Susannah  Choate,  daughter  of  Stephen  Choate,  Esq., 
were  married  January  1st,  1789,  and  Sunday,  October 
1 8th  had  a  daughter  still  born,  and  since  then  had  other 
children  namely: 

"William  Choate  was  born  Tuesday,  October  26th, 
1790  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  low  water. 


HOG   ISLAND  23 

1 

"John  Choate  was  born  Monday,  July  16th,  1792, 
about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  about  low  water. 

"George  Choate  (that  was  my  father)  was  born  Mon- 
day, November  7th,  1796,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening 
about  four  hours  ebb." 

Captain  William  Choate  appears  to  have  been  a  highly 
intelligent  person.  He  fitted  for  college  in  Salem,  and 
his  father  desired  him  to  graduate  at  the  university  and 
become  a  clergyman,  but  his  own  taste  did  not  lie  in 
that  direction,  and  yet  he  was  sufficiently  self-educated  to 
instruct  his  own  four  sons  in  navigation  and  other  studies. 

They  all  followed  the  sea  more  or  less.  David  (who 
was  the  father  of  Rufus)  sailed  to  Spain  and  also  to 
southern  ports  when  a  young  man.  His  son  William 
went  to  sea  eight  or  ten  years  before  his  removal  to  Derry. 
George  was  a  captain  before  he  came  to  the  island,  and 
Job  was  a  captain  between  Europe  and  America  for 
twenty  years. 

The  lives  of  Captain  William  and  his  son  George  ap- 
pear to  have  been  singularly  alike — simple,  quiet,  and 
unobtrusive,  following  the  sea  at  times  and  farming 
for  the  rest,  holding  important  local  public  offices,  and 
employed  by  their  fellow  townsmen  in  the  management  of 
their  affairs  and  enjoying  their  full  confidence  and  esteem. 

George  represented  the  town  of  Ipswich  from  181 4 
to  1 81 7,  and  the  new  town  of  Essex  after  it  was  set  off 
in  1 81 9,  and  he  held  various  other  offices  in  the  town. 

I  transcribe  from  the  notice  which  the  Salem  Gazette 
published  of  him  at  the  time  of  his  death,  as  follows: 

"Few  men  have  so  well  discharged  the  duties  of  hus- 
band, parent  and  citizen  as  Mr.  Choate.     He  was  for 


24  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

many  years  a  member  of  the  Legislature  from  Ipswich, 
and  the  first  representative  from  Essex,  and  was  much 
employed  by  his  townsmen  in  the  management  of  their 
concerns,  deservedly  enjoying  their  highest  confidence, 
respect  and  esteem.  By  them  his  usefulness  will  be  long 
remembered.  To  a  strength  and  purity  of  mind  there 
was  united  a  quiet,  peaceful  and  amiable  disposition, 
which  greatly  endeared  him  to  his  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances. So  mindful  was  he  of  the  rights  of  others  that,  as 
he  never  made  an  enemy,  so  certainly  he  has  not  left 
one;  and  we  cannot  but  admire  and  wish  to  imitate  that 
discipline  of  mind  and  feeling,  which  he  so  eminently 
manifested,  and  which  enabled  him  to  perform  the  duties 
and  sustain  the  fatigues  and  ills  of  life  without  a  murmur 
or  complaint.  The  virtues  of  honest  fidelity  and  benevo- 
lence will  not  perish  with  the  body.  For  the  upright 
and  faithful  there  remaineth  a  rest.  He  was  always 
deeply  interested  in  the  cause  of  education,  and  gave 
his  hearty  and  constant  support  to  the  institutions  of 
religion." 

He  appears  to  have  been  the  leading  spirit  in  the  move- 
ment for  the  separation  of  the  Chebacco  Ward  in  the 
town  of  Ipswich  and  its  incorporation  as  a  separate 
town  in  1818,  although  such  separation  was  steadily  re- 
sisted by  the  inhabitants  of  the  rest  of  the  town. 


And  there  hang  the  portraits  of  my  father  and  mother, 
looking  down  upon  me  from  the  wall,  photographs  taken 
at  about  the  age  of  sixty,  both  very  handsome,  very 
earnest  and  a  little  anxious,  the  reason  for  which  will 
appear, 


HOG  ISLAND  25 

My  father,  Doctor  George  Choate,  born  at  Chebacco, 
November  7th,  1796,  was  the  sixth  in  descent  from  the 
original  settler.  He  was  prepared  for  college  under  the 
tuition  of  the  Reverend  Doctor  William  Cogswell,  then 
master  of  the  North  District  School  in  Chebacco,  sup- 
plemented by  a  year  in  Dummer  Academy  and  another 
year  in  Atkinson  Academy. 

He  entered  Harvard  in  18 14  and  graduated  in  the 
class  of  '18,  which  numbered  eighty-one  members,  the 
largest  at  Harvard  up  to  that  time  and  until  my  own 
class  of  '52,  which  numbered  eighty-eight,  both  in  striking 
contrast  to  the  enormous  numbers  in  more  recent  classes. 

When  he  presented  himself  for  examination,  his  name 
seemed  to  give  great  trouble  to  the  examiners,  for  the 
Latin  professor,  who  thought  there  must  be  one  syllable 
for  every  separate  vowel,  in  calling  the  list  addressed 
him,  as  he  told  me,  as  "Co-a-te." 

His  classmates  included  such  men  as  Professor  John 
Hooker  Ashmun,  Sidney  Bartlett,  Francis  Brinley,  Wil- 
liam Emerson  (the  brother  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson), 
the  Reverend  Doctors  Farley  and  Noyes,  and  General 
Henry  K.  Oliver. 

The  curriculum  and  routine  of  education,  from  what 
he  told  me,  seems  not  to  have  changed  much  from  the 
earliest  period,  chiefly  consisting  of  learning  by  rote  and 
recitations  from  the  books  studied. 

Upon  the  subsequent  settlement  of  his  father's  estate, 
which  was  inconsiderable  in  amount,  a  few  years  after- 
wards, it  was  found  that  George  had  received  the  whole 
amount  of  his  share  to  pay  for  his  education.  In  fact, 
from  the  time  of  his  graduation  he  had  to  rely  wholly 
upon  his  own  resources,  which  made  his  professional 
and  personal  success  in  life  certain. 


26  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

To  obtain  the  means  of  prosecuting  his  professional 
studies  he  was  for  two  years  master  of  the  "Feoffee's 
Latin  School"  in  Ipswich,  and  at  the  same  time  was 
engaged  in  the  study  of  medicine  with  the  late  Doctor 
Thomas  Manning,  a  celebrated  practitioner  of  his  day, 
and  two  years  more  were  spent  in  the  office  of  the  late 
Doctor  George  C.  Shattuck,  of  Boston,  one  of  the  most 
eminent  physicians  of  his  time.  His  relations  with  Doc- 
tor Shattuck  continued  until  the  Iatter's  death  to  be  of 
a  most  friendly  and  cordial  character.  I  well  remember 
the  kindly  hospitality  of  the  old  gentleman  at  his  stately 
residence  at  the  corner  of  Cambridge  and  Staniford  Streets 
in  Boston,  where  he  often  entertained  my  brothers  and 
myself  while  in  college  in  the  most  paternal  and  friendly 
way. 

In  1822  he  received  the  degree  of  M.D.  at  the  Har- 
vard Medical  School  and  immediately  entered  upon  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  Salem.  His  success  from 
the  start  was  pronounced  and  continued  for  a  period  of 
nearly  forty  years.  His  practice  extended  through  the 
neighboring  towns  and  involved  the  most  strenuous 
labor,  but  he  was  not  content  with  professional  success 
alone,  for  he  was  a  man  of  genuine  public  spirit  and  took 
an  active  part  in  all  the  affairs  of  the  community,  which 
constantly  relied  upon  his  advice  and  assistance. 

For  many  years  he  was  president  of  the  Essex  South 
District  Medical  Society  and  of  the  Salem  Athenaeum. 
After  withdrawing  from  practice,  he  represented  Salem 
for  several  years  in  the  General  Court,  and  previously 
he  served  efficiently  as  chairman  of  the  school  committee 
and  as  an  active  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 

He  was  a  pillar  of  the  First  Church,  the  church  of 
Francis  Higginson  and  Hugh  Peters  and  Roger  Williams. 


HOG   ISLAND  27 

He  was  deeply  interested  in  all  the  historical  traditions 
of  that  ancient  congregation,  and  at  the  installation  of 
a  new  clergyman  in  1848  he  officiated  as  chairman  of 
the  committee,  and,  after  the  manner  adopted  by  the 
brethren  at  the  installation  of  Higginson  and  Skelton  in 
1629,  made  the  address  which  inducted  the  new  pastor 
into  office,  in  exact  conformity  with  what  was  done  in 
the  church  at  its  foundation  two  hundred  and  nineteen 
years  before. 

His  interest  in  education  was  very  remarkable  and 
never-failing,  and  he  heartily  sustained  the  efforts  of 
Horace  Mann  for  the  reform  of  the  school  system  of 
Massachusetts,  which  wrought  such  a  wonderful  change 
in  that  system.  I  well  remember  his  taking  me  with 
him  in  his  chaise  to  Topsfield,  where  he  went  to  attend 
a  teachers'  convention  at  which  Mr.  Mann  was  to  be 
present.  And  as  the  distinguished  reformer  was  desirous 
of  getting  to  Salem  that  night  my  father  invited  him  to 
drive  home  with  him,  and  as  there  was  no  other  place 
for  me  I  sat  all  the  way  upon  Mr.  Mann's  lap,  which  I 
have  always  regarded  as  the  actual  beginning  of  my  edu- 
cation. 

The  lives  of  my  father  and  mother  were  truly  heroic 
in  the  matter  of  the  training  of  their  own  children.  Hav- 
ing four  sons  and  two  daughters,  they  determined  at 
all  hazards  to  give  them  the  best  education  that  the  times 
afforded,  and  in  so  doing  they  set  them  a  wonderful  ex- 
ample of  self-control,  self-denial,  and  self-sacrifice.  Every- 
thing else  was  subordinated  to  this  high  ideal  and  they 
denied  themselves  everything  else  to  accomplish  this 
lofty  purpose. 

At  that  period  I  cannot  recall  my  father  ever  taking 
a  holiday,  except  for  one  hot  afternoon  in  summer,  when 


28  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

he  drove  the  whole  family  in  a  carry-all  to  Phillips's  Beach 
for  a  sail  and  a  fish  supper.  AH  the  rest  of  the  time,  sum- 
mer and  winter,  was  devoted  without  stint  to  constant 
work. 

Social  enjoyments  were  very  limited  and  our  family 
life  was  in  striking  contrast  to  that  which  prevails  among 
well-to-do  people  to-day.  But  they  succeeded  to  a  very 
remarkable  degree  and  gave  their  children  an  inheritance 
which  was  far  more  precious  than  any  amount  of  wealth 
would  have  been.  Many  a  time  have  I  seen  him  pay 
out  what  was  nearly  his  last  dollar  for  the  settlement 
of  our  college  bills,  and  all  he  had  to  give  us  by  will  was 
a  hundred  dollars  apiece. 

But  his  triumph  was  of  the  most  signal  character,  for 
the  Harvard  College  annual  catalogue  of  1848-49  con- 
tained the  names  of  all  his  four  sons,  one  a  medical  stu- 
dent, one  a  senior,  and  two  freshmen.  And  when  I  recall 
that  all  this  was  accomplished  out  of  his  narrow  pro- 
fessional income,  when  his  ordinary  fee  for  a  visit  was 
seventy-five  cents  and  seven  dollars  and  a  half  for  bring- 
ing a  new  child  into  the  world,  it  is  hardly  possible  to 
conceive  how  he  could  have  done  it. 

But  they  had  their  reward  in  the  success  of  their  sons 
and  daughters  and  in  their  most  fervent  gratitude.  I 
remember  that  when  my  brother  William  and  I  graduated 
at  Harvard  in  1852,  William  was  the  first  scholar  in  the 
class;  so  much  so  that  there  was  really  nobody  second, 
and  the  faculty  with  an  unusual  manifestation  of  senti- 
ment gave  him  at  commencement  the  Valedictory  Oration 
which  was  his  as  a  matter  of  right,  and  to  me,  although 
I  was  only  the  fourth  scholar,  the  Salutatory  Oration, 
which  did  not  belong  to  me  at  all,  so  that  we  sandwiched 
the  class  between  us  in  the  exercises  of  that  day. 


HOG  ISLAND  29 

And  when  my  mother  appeared,  with  her  character- 
istic modesty  and  shyness,  Mrs.  Sparks,  the  wife  of  the 
president,  greeted  her  with  the  question:  "Why,  Mrs. 
Choate,  how  did  you  come  up  from  Salem?" 

My  mother  answered:  "I  came  in  the  usual  way,  by 
the  train  to  Boston  and  to  Cambridge  in  the  omnibus." 

Mrs.  Sparks  exclaimed:  "You  ought  not  to  have  come 
in  that  way;  you  ought  to  have  come  in  a  chariot  drawn 
by  peacocks.  Such  a  thing  as  this  has  never  been  known 
before  in  the  history  of  Harvard — two  brothers  sandwich- 
ing the  class  on  the  commencement  programme ! " 

I  suppose  there  may  be  many  similar  examples  of 
parental  devotion  and  self-sacrifice  among  us  to-day, 
but  they  are  not  apparent.  In  those  days  the  rule  was 
duty  first  and  pleasure  afterwards,  and  if  duty  occupied 
all  the  time  it  must  be  performed  at  all  risks  and  let  the 
pleasure  go.  Nowadays,  so  far  as  I  can  observe,  among 
successful  people  pleasure  occupies  a  much  more  promi- 
nent place  and  is  not  necessarily  sacrificed  to  duty.  When 
I  look  around  me  and  see  fathers  and  mothers  devoted 
to  pleasure,  to  bridge-parties  and  dancing  and  the  various 
other  forms  of  social  entertainment,  I  often  wonder  what 
the  moral  effect  will  be  upon  their  children  who  cannot 
help  seeing  it  all. 

At  any  rate,  the  old  way  created  an  indissoluble  bond 
between  parents  and  children,  and  for  one,  throughout 
life  I  have  never  made  any  important  decision  without 
wondering  what  my  father  and  mother  would  have  said 
about  it. 

Some  day  the  present  carnival  of  sport  and  pleasure 
will  be  checked  and  an  era  of  self-denial  and  sacrifice 
will  come  again.  Fathers  and  mothers  such  as  I  have 
described  mine  to  have  been  do  really  constitute  the 


30  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

pride  and  glory  of  the  commonwealth,  as  they  have  been 
from  the  earliest  days  of  the  colony,  when  everything 
else  was  subordinated  to  working  out  the  salvation  of 
themselves  and  their  children.  Of  course,  it  is  money 
that  is  doing  the  mischief,  and  fortunately  does  not  affect 
mile-tenths  of  the  people  of  the  country,  who  have  really 
to  work  for  their  daily  bread;  among  whom  must  in 
every  generation  be  found  thousands  of  instances  of 
parents  who  sacrifice  the  present  to  the  future  and  forego 
everything  else  to  make  sure  of  the  education  of  their 
children. 

My  father  at  last  paid  a  fearful  penalty  for  the  con- 
stant overwork  and  nervous  tension  of  his  earlier  years, 
for  at  about  the  age  when  his  father  and  grandfather 
had  died,  his  health  failed  entirely,  and  he  lived  an  in- 
valid for  more  than  seventeen  years.  It  was  here  that 
the  supreme  patience  and  fortitude  of  my  mother,  which 
she  had  derived  constitutionally  from  her  father,  proved 
such  a  priceless  blessing  in  enabling  her  during  that  long 
period  to  comfort  and  care  for  him. 


CHILDHOOD 

And  now  I  come  to  my  own  birth,  which  took  place 
at  Salem  on  the  24th  of  January,  1832.  I  have  never 
had  my  horoscope  cast,  but  it  must  have  been  propitious 
to  account  for  the  cheerful  temperament  which  has  marked 
my  whole  life,  always  looking  on  the  bright  side  and  mak- 
ing the  best  of  everything  as  it  came,  which  has  been  in 
itself  a  great  fortune,  worth  more  than  many  millions. 

The  earliest  written  record  of  my  appearance  in  the 
world  is  contained  in  a  letter  written  on  the  following 
Sunday  by  one  of  my  aunts  to  another,  in  which  she 

says: 

"Margaret  was  confined  last  Tuesday  with  the  largest 
boy  she  ever  had.  She  continued  comfortable  for  three 
days.  Since  I  have  not  heard,  but  presume  she  remained 
so.    She  has  put  her  child  out  to  nurse." 

As  I  was  the  fifth  child  and  the  fourth  boy,  the  oldest 
not  yet  five,  my  size  spoke  well  for  me  at  the  start,  and 
the  reason  that  I  was  put  away  so  summarily  was  that 
all  the  other  children  at  the  time  had  the  whooping-cough, 
for  in  those  days  it  was  supposed,  as  I  believe  it  is  now, 
that  the  whooping-cough  was  fatal  to  new-born  infants. 

At  any  rate,  I  was  wrapped  up  in  a  blanket  imme- 
diately after  my  birth  and  carried  over  to  the  banks  of 
the  North  River,  where  the  selected  nurse,  Mrs.  Law, 
dwelt,  and  there  I  remained  for  seventeen  months,  which 
can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  theory  that  I  was  re- 
garded at  home  as  one  too  many,  who  would  be  only  in 
the  way  if  returned  to  the  parental  mansion. 


32  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

There  was  once  a  malicious  suggestion  that  during 
this  protracted  separation  from  the  family  my  identity 
was  in  some  mysterious  way  changed,  and  that  I  was 
only  a  changeling  after  all.  But  one  had  only  to  look 
at  my  mother's  features,  which  were  exactly  like  my 
own,  to  see  how  groundless  this  suspicion  was.  It  only 
had  its  origin  in  the  fact  that  I  was  really  quite  unlike 
all  the  rest  of  the  children  in  temper  and  disposition. 

This  must  have  had  some  effect  upon  my  character 
at  that  early  day,  for  my  mother,  writing  to  her  sister- 
in-law  on  the  ioth  of  February,  1834,  says:  "I  have 
no  baby  you  know  to  keep  me  at  home,  for  Joseph  is 
two  years  old,  although  rather  troublesome.  He  was 
seventeen  months  old  when  we  took  him  home.  He  had 
been  indulged  so  much  we  found  him  rather  difficult  to 
manage,"  a  condition  which,  I  fear,  continued  some  time 
afterwards;  but,  anyhow,  I  had  to  fight  for  my  place  in 
the  family  and  gradually  secured  it. 

But  I  was  not  long  to  enjoy  undisturbed  the  domestic 
felicity  of  home  which  I  had  thus  regained.  In  those 
days,  when  servants  were  few  and  nurses  for  the  chil- 
dren almost  unknown,  the  sooner  they  were  sent  to  school 
the  better  for  all  concerned,  and  it  must  have  been  an 
immense  relief  to  my  mother  for  a  great  part  of  the  day 
when  all  the  five  children  were  already  in  school.  My 
earliest  recollection  is  of  being  taken  by  the  hand  by  my 
brother  William,  who  was  a  year  and  a  half  older — I 
was  two  and  a  half — and  led  to  the  Dame's  School,  which 
I  attended  until  I  was  seven  years  old. 

It  was  the  simplest  affair  possible,  kept  by  an  aged 
spinster,  Miss  Lewis,  and  her  widowed  sister,  Mrs. 
Streeter,  and  attended  by  some  twenty  boys  and  girls, 
the  children  of  our  neighbors  and  friends. 


CHILDHOOD  33 

I  perfectly  remember  my  first  morning  at  the  school, 
when  I  was  put  in  charge  of  the  biggest  girl  among  the 
scholars,  who  afterwards  became  a  dignified  matron  of 
the  city,  the  wife  of  a  distinguished  lawyer  and  the  mother 
of  a  considerable  family.  The  schoolroom  was  of  moderate 
dimensions,  the  boys  upon  one  side  of  the  stove,  which 
occupied  the  centre,  and  the  girls  upon  the  other. 

The  only  punishment  that  I  remember  at  the  school 
for  any  boy  who  misbehaved  was  to  be  put  over  to  sit 
among  the  girls.  This  was  a  little  awkward  at  first,  but 
I  soon  got  used  to  it  and  liked  it  very  much. 

It  was  like  a  modern  kindergarten  without  the  ap- 
paratus, but  we  did  learn  to  read  and  write  and  cipher 
there,  so  that  I  cannot  recall  the  time  when  I  could  not 
do  all  of  those  things. 

Mr.  William  M.  Evarts,  with  whom  I  long  afterwards 
became  associated,  is  recorded  in  the  life  of  his  father 
to  have  read  the  Bible  perfectly  well  at  three  years  old. 
I  do  not  think  that  I  was  quite  equal  to  that,  but  cer- 
tainly had  begun  to  read  at  that  age. 

The  surroundings  of  the  school  were  attractive. 
Across  Sewall  Street,  where  it  was  situated,  and  this 
was  within  a  stone's  throw  of  my  father's  house,  there 
was  a  wheelwright,  and  it  was  great  fun  for  the  children 
to  gather  about  this  skilful  mechanic  and  watch  his  work. 
His  name  was  Ira  Patch.  At  the  corner,  as  we  turned 
into  Sewall  Street  from  Essex  Street,  was  quite  a  noted 
hardware  store  kept  by  Robert  Peele,  and  his  shop-win- 
dow with  its  wonderful  collection  of  all  kinds  of  hard- 
ware was  a  constant  attraction.  But  best  of  all,  in  im- 
mediate contiguity  with  the  schoolhouse,  was  a  famous 
blacksmith  shop  kept  by  Benjamin  Cutts,  whose  forge 
in  active  operation  it  was  a  daily  delight  to  watch.    He 


34  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

was  something  more  to  us  than  a  mere  neighbor,  for  some- 
times, when  one  of  the  boys,  who  was  constitutionally 
refractory,  became  unmanageable  the  schoolmistress 
called  out:  "Send  for  Mr.  Cutts !  Send  for  Mr.  Cutts !" 
and  the  sturdy  blacksmith  came  in  to  the  rescue  and 
suppressed  the  offender. 

These  dame's  schools  were  a  peculiar  and  very  im- 
portant institution  of  New  England  and  had  been  so 
from  its  foundation.  Each  was  entirely  independent, 
related  in  no  way  to  any  other  school,  and  contributed 
substantially  to  the  support  of  otherwise  helpless  dames 
and  to  the  welfare  of  their  little  charges.  I  have  no  idea 
or  recollection  of  what  the  tuition-fees  were,  but  they 
must  have  been  infinitely  small.  And  yet  they  consti- 
tuted all  that  my  father  ever  paid  for  my  education  until 
I  entered  Harvard  College. 

The  town  schools  at  that  time  were  in  an  extremely 
rude  and  primitive  state,  very  much  as  they  must  have 
been  for  two  hundred  years  at  least.  I  remember  per- 
fectly well  being  taken  by  the  hand  by  my  father  the 
morning  I  was  seven  years  old  and  taken  to  the  public 
school,  an  alarming  experience,  indeed,  for  the  master, 
Abner  Brooks,  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  perfect 
terror.  He  was  a  weakly  man  and  made  up  for  that  in- 
firmity by  a  liberal  use  of  the  cowhide,  which  he  applied 
very  freely. 

The  Centre  School,  as  it  was  called,  was  in  Washing- 
ton Street,  and  was  kept  in  one  large  room,  where  there 
must  have  been  about  fifty  boys  from  seven  years  old 
to  fifteen.  We  sat  on  benches,  which  stretched  across 
the  room  from  front  to  rear  with  an  aisle  between,  on 
a  sloping  floor,  and  as  the  youngest  boys  were  on  the 
back  seat,  I  was  marched  up  in  the  face  of  the  whole 


CHILDHOOD  35 

room  to  my  place  there.  It  was  really  a  terrible  ex- 
perience. 

AH  the  teaching  was  done  by  this  one  man,  who  heard 
the  successive  classes  recite  from  nine  to  twelve  in  the 
morning  and  from  two  to  five  in  the  afternoon.  At  the 
close  of  every  day  a  group  of  offenders  were  stopped 
after  school  to  receive  the  application  of  the  rod,  and 
this  was  in  addition  to  the  use  of  the  long  rod  which  would 
reach  the  backs  of  half  a  dozen  boys  on  the  same  bench 
and  was  applied  from  the  central  aisle.  ■ 

On  the  whole,  it  was  a  pretty  brutal  affair.  There 
were  no  games  and  no  recreation  at  the  school.  The 
only  thing  that  might  be  so  considered  was  when  a  new 
load  of  wood  came.  The  best  boys  were  allowed  to  get 
it  in,  which  was  regarded  as  a  special  privilege.  Cer- 
tainly there  must  have  been  much  waste  of  time  in  the 
years  that  I  spent  at  that  school. 

The  master  had  no  special  gift  for  teaching.  It  cer- 
tainly was  a  dreary  routine,  with  little  to  mitigate  the 
rudeness  and  dreariness  of  it.  But  now  and  then,  when 
our  school-teacher  felt  uncommonly  well,  he  would  make 
us  a  little  speech  and  say  that  hereafter  he  was  going 
to  rule  by  love,  and  as  proof  of  it  he  would  cut  up  both 
his  cowhides  and  have  them  burned  up  in  the  stove.  But 
in  a  few  days  this  did  not  prove  satisfactory,  and  new 
rods  were  purchased  and  never  spared  for  fear  of  spoil- 
ing the  children. 

Happily  for  us  all,  Horace  Mann  soon  came  to  the 
rescue  and  convinced  the  people  of  Massachusetts  that 
decent  and  sanitary  schoolhouses  and  humane  treat- 
ment, and  skilled  teachers  really  qualified  for  their  task, 
were  the  best  investment  that  the  State  could  make. 
New  schoolhouses  of  fine  proportions,  built  on  sanitary 


36  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

principles,  began  to  rise  throughout  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts, normal  schools  came  into  being,  and  a  board 
of  education  was  created  which  bore  the  responsibility 
of  the  general  conduct  of  these  schools  throughout  the 
State.  The  ancient  town  of  Salem,  at  the  time  of  my 
birth  not  yet  a  city,  was  a  unique  and  most  wholesome 
place  in  which  to  be  born  and  bred.  It  was  a  place  of 
about  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants,  fourteen  miles  from 
Boston,  to  and  from  which  city  the  stage  ran  every  day 
but  Sunday.  It  had  two  newspapers,  The  Salem  Register 
and  The  Salem  Gazette,  printed  by  hand-presses,  and 
published  each  twice  a  week,  so  that  we  were  compara- 
tively secluded  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  hearing  from 
Boston  every  afternoon,  from  New  York  about  twice  a 
week,  and  from  Europe  about  once  a  month.  Conse- 
quently our  people  were  thrown  very  much  upon  them- 
selves and  took  an  intense  interest  in  local  affairs,  and 
had  but  a  scanty  knowledge  of  what  was  going  on  in 
the  rest  of  the  world.  Steam  and  electricity  had  not  yet 
begun  their  wonderful  work  there,  friction-matches  were 
just  invented  and  regarded  as  a  great  curiosity,  and  I 
remember  my  father  bringing  home  a  piece  of  anthracite 
coal,  a  kind  of  fuel  hitherto  wholly  unknown,  and  making 
great  complaint  because,  when  put  in  the  fireplace,  it 
would  not  burn. 

We  lived  in  an  old  brick  house  of  large  dimensions, 
looking  out  upon  the  west  upon  the  grounds  of  Barton 
Square  Church  with  their  fine  elm-trees  and  with  a  great 
garden  in  the  rear.  There  was  no  furnace  in  the  house, 
the  only  mode  of  heating  being  by  stoves  and  open  grates 
and  fireplaces  for  wood,  of  which  I  remember  only  three, 
one  in  my  father's  office,  one  in  mother's  room,  and  one 
in  a  large  sitting-room,  where  we  all  sat  and  lived  and 


CHILDHOOD  37 

worked  together.  There  was  no  gas  as  yet  and  our  only 
lights  were  candles,  brass  oil-lamps,  and  astral  lamps 
with  glass  chimneys  and  shades,  which  gave  the  best 
light  we  had. 

This  house  had  been  purchased  by  my  grandfather 
Hodges  just  before  the  marriage  of  my  father  and  mother, 
as  the  deed  of  record  in  the  Registry  of  Deeds  shows.  It 
had  already  some  historic  interest,  for  it  was  there  that 
Count  Rumford,  then  known  as  Benjamin  Thompson, 
served  his  apprenticeship  in  the  general  store  of  Mr. 
Appleton,  who  then  owned  the  house.  This  must  have 
been  a  few  years  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  for  his  biography  says  that  he  was  at  the  age 
of  fourteen  sufficiently  advanced  in  algebra,  chemistry, 
astronomy,  and  even  the  higher  mathematics  to  calculate 
a  solar  eclipse  within  four  seconds  of  accuracy.  Cer- 
tainly he  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  infant  phenomena. 
It  is  further  recorded  that  in  1776  he  was  apprenticed 
to  a  storekeeper  in  Salem,  and  while  in  that  employment 
occupied  himself  in  chemical  and  mechanical  experi- 
ments, as  well  as  engraving,  in  which  he  attained  some 
proficiency*  The  outbreak  of  the  Revolutionary  War 
put  a  stop  to  the  trade  of  his  master,  and  he  thereupon 
left  Salem  and  went  to  Boston,  where  he  engaged  him- 
self as  assistant  in  another  store,  and  began  his  wonderful 
and  most  romantic  career,  marrying  at  nineteen  a  woman 
of  property,  his  senior  by  fourteen  years,  sailing  for  Eng- 
land on  the  evacuation  of  Boston  by  the  royal  troops 
in  1776,  knighted  by  George  the  Third,  and  all  the  time 
making  very  important  inventions  and  discoveries,  many 
of  which  have  lasted  until  the  present  day,  made  a  count 
of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  by  the  King  of  Bavaria,  and 
marrying  for  his  second  wife  the  wealthy  widow  of  La- 


38  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

voisier,  the  great  French  chemist  who  was  guillotined  by 
Robespierre  for  his  great  services  to  mankind.  I  am  sorry 
to  say  that  with  his  last  wife  he  led  an  extremely  uncom- 
fortable life,  until  at  last  they  agreed  to  separate,  and 
he  died  in  peace  in  1814,  having  established  Rumford 
Medals  in  the  Royal  Society  and  the  American  Academy 
of  Arts  and  Sciences,  and  the  Rumford  Professorship  in 
Harvard  University.  How  much  of  this  erratic  and  suc- 
cessful career  was  due  to  his  long  residence  as  apprentice 
in  our  house,  it  is  hard  to  say,  but  we  may  claim  the 
credit  of  all  that  was  creditable  in  it. 


SALEM 

Salem,  which  continued  to  be  my  home  for  the  first 
twenty-three  years  of  my  life,  was  a  most  unique  and 
delightful  place.  It  was  so  old,  so- queer,  so  different 
from  all  other  places  upon  which  the  sun  in  his  western 
journey  looked  down,  so  full  of  grand  historical  reminis- 
cences, so  typical  of  everything  that  has  ever  occurred 
in  the  annals  of  American  life,  that  it  was  a  great  piece 
of  good  fortune  to  be  born  there.  The  natives  of  the 
place  were  a  little  older  to  the  cubic  inch  than  men  born 
at  exactly  the  same  moment  in  any  other  part  of  America. 
It  could  not  possibly  be  otherwise  with  human  beings 
born  and  bred  in  those  old  houses,  which  have  cradled 
so  many  of  our  race  for  upwards  of  two  centuries,  that 
humanity  itself  had  got  used  to  being  started  there,  and 
found  itself  an  old  story  at  the  beginning.  Comparing 
a  new-born  Salem  baby  with  an  infant  born  at  the  same 
moment  in  Kansas,  or  Colorado,  or  Montana,  I  venture 
to  say  that  the  microscope  would  disclose  a  physical 
difference,  a  slight — perhaps  a  very  slight — mould  of 
antiquity,  which  all  the  waters  of  Wenham  Pond  could 
never  wash  away. 

It  was  the  very  spot  where  Endicott  had  landed  in 
1628,  and  John  Winthrop,  the  leader  of  the  great  Puritan 
host  which  came  over  in  1629.  It  had  been  the  scene 
of  the  terrible  witchcraft  delusion  in  1692,  when  all  the 
people  of  Massachusetts,  from  the  governor  down,  led 
by  the  infernal  doctrines  of  the  clergy  of  that  day,  headed 
by  the  notorious  Cotton  Mather,  really  believed  that 

39 


4o  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

Satan  himself  was  actually  present  among  them  seeking 
whom  he  might  devour;  all  which  resulted  in  the  cruel 
slaughter  upon  the  gallows  of  twenty  of  the  most  re- 
spectable people  of  the  place,  and  left  a  cloud  upon  its 
good  name  which  will  never  be  effaced. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  Governor 
Burnet  had  transferred  the  General  Court  to  Salem,  but 
they  refused  to  do  any  business  there  because  it  was 
not  their  proper  place,  and  again  when  General  Gage, 
in  1774,  arrived  he  attempted  to  transfer  the  legislature 
to  Salem,  which  was  the  scene  of  great  activity  and  con- 
flict between  the  royal  authorities  and  the  people  during 
that  year.  It  has  always  been  claimed  by  the  people 
at  Salem  that  the  first  blood  of  the  Revolution  was  shed 
there  at  the  old  North  Bridge  when  Colonel  Leslie  one 
Sunday  morning  led  a  company  of  royal  troops  from 
Marblehead  to  capture  a  quantity  of  arms  and  munitions 
stored  there,  but  was  dissuaded  from  making  the  seizure 
by  the  influence  of  its  leading  citizens. 

From  the  beginning  the  port  had  been  the  scene  of  a 
steadily  growing  commerce,  Salem  ships  being  the  first 
to  penetrate  the  distant  regions  of  India  and  China,  and 
bringing  home  cargoes  of  fabulous  value,  which  enriched 
many  of  the  leading  people.  Many  great  fortunes  had 
been  made  there,  most  of  which  had  already  been  trans- 
mitted to  the  second  generation  before  my  birth. 

The  First  Church  in  Salem,  in  which  I  was  brought 
up  (being  required  to  attend  two  sessions  there  every 
Sunday,  summer  and  winter,  rain  or  shine),  had  main- 
tained its  position  on  the  same  spot  from  the  earliest 
days  of  the  colony.  It  was  the  church  of  Francis  Higgin- 
son  and  Roger  Williams  and  Hugh  Peters,  all  of  whom 
had  been  driven  from  England  in  the  days  of  the. tyranny 


SALEM  41 

of  Archbishop  Laud,  as  nonconformists.  It  was  within 
the  walls  of  this  church  that  Anne  Hutchinson  and  the 
Quakers  had  made  their  unseemly  demonstration,  for 
which  they  had  been  expelled  from  the  colony,  but  non- 
conformity seemed  to  be  deeply  rooted  in  the  soil  of  the 
church,  and  in  my  boyhood  it  was  one  of  the  most  pro- 
nounced Unitarian  churches  in  the  whole  commonwealth. 

All  these  historical  reminiscences  and  traditions  hung 
over  the  place  and  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the 
minds  of  sensitive  and  impressionable  children  who  were 
brought  up  there  even  down  to  my  time,  and  these  im- 
pressions were  greatly  confirmed  by  the  wonderful  writ- 
ings of  Hawthorne  in  all  his  books  relating  to  colonial 
history.  We  loved  to  wander  at  large  within  the  narrow 
limits  of  the  old  town,  endeavoring  to  locate  the  places 
where  its  notable  celebrities  in  former  generations  had 
acted  their  parts. 

At  the  time  of  my  birth  Salem  was  an  extremely 
isolated  place,  practically  shut  in  from  the  rest  of  the 
world.  There  was  daily  stage  communication  from  Bos- 
ton, which  ran  on  to  the  eastward  through  the  town, 
and  the  life  there  was  extremely  simple.  The  commerce 
of  the  place  had  practically  dried  up,  and  there  was  only 
the  local  trade  for  the  supply  of  the  necessities  of  the 
inhabitants  and  of  those  who  came  in  from  the  neigh- 
boring country  to  do  their  shopping.  The  population 
was  homogeneous,  pure  English  throughout.  The  great 
tide  of  Irish  immigration  had  hardly  begun,  although  a 
few  straggling  Irish  girls  could  be  found  in  the  kitchens, 
but  I  can  only  recall  two  foreigners  among  the  better 
class  of  the  people,  one  an  Italian  music-master,  and 
another  a  French  refugee,  both  gentlemen  of  excellent 
quality. 


42  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

Neither  steam  nor  electricity  had  yet  been  introduced 
in  any  form,  but  they  were  soon  to  come,  for  one  of  my 
very  earliest  recollections  was  in  1837,  when  I  was  five 
years  old,  being  taken  by  my  father  to  the  top  of  Castle 
Hill,  which  lay  to  the  south  of  the  town,  to  see  the  first 
railroad-train  come  in  from  Boston.  Compared  with 
any  railroad-train  now  known  it  was  a  very  petty  and 
puny  affair,  a  little  engine  with  two  small-sized  passenger- 
cars  and  what  was  called  a  "nigger  car"  attached  for 
colored  people  to  ride  in.  Samples  of  such  primitive 
trains  are  always  shown  now  as  exhibits  from  the  earliest 
railroads  as  examples  of  the  beginning  of  the  transpor- 
tation system  of  the  United  States. 

That  was  truly  the  beginning  of  the  life  of  the  place 
which  had  been  slumbering  for  years  since  its  seaboard 
and  seaborne  life  had  died  away.  I  was  literally  born 
into  a  wholly  different  life  from  any  that  we  know  any- 
thing about  to-day.  The  town  was  dead  before  this 
first  railroad-train  arrived,  and  from  that  moment  it 
really  began  to  wake  up.  In  fact,  for  a  time,  the  coming 
of  the  train  from  Boston  was  the  signal  for  a  great  as- 
semblage of  the  younger  people  at  the  station  to  see  the 
train  come  in.  There  were  no  time-tables,  and  the  com- 
ing and  departure  of  trains  was  announced  by  an  old 
Revolutionary  soldier,  a  veteran  corporal,  who  became 
well  known  to  all  the  boys  in  town,  Corporal  Pitman, 
and  the  local  rhyme  ran: 

"Who  rings  the  eastern  railroad  bell, 
And  makes  its  notes  with  power  tell, 
And  who  can  do  it  half  so  well 
As  Corporal?" 

Two  years  afterwards  the  eastern  railroad  was  ex- 
tended to  Beverly,  two  miles  beyond,  and  to  accomplish 


SALEM  43 

this,  what  appeared  to  our  childish  imaginations  to  be 
an  enormous  tunnel  was  dug  through  the  centre  of  the 
town  from  river  to  river,  at  least  fifty  feet  deep  and  still 
more  broad,  which  cut  the  town  in  halves,  and  when  it 
was  finished  and  the  trains  ran  through  to  Beverly  and 
beyond,  Salem  had  awakened  from  its  lethargy  and  was 
really  in  touch  with  the  rest  of  the  world. 

We  were  very  proud  of  our  local  celebrities,  especially 
if  they  had  attained  to  great  national  and  public  repu- 
tation, and  one  of  my  earliest  reminiscences  is  being  sent 
home  from  church  one  hot  Sunday  afternoon,  at  the 
close  of  the  service,  to  make  room  for  a  grown  person 
to  attend  the  eulogy  to  be  pronounced  upon  Doctor  Bow- 
ditch,  the  great  mathematician  and  navigator.  I  could 
not  have  made  room  for  a  very  large  person,  because  I 
was  then  only  six  years  old,  but  every  inch  of  space  in 
the  First  Church  was  required  for  so  celebrated  an  oc- 
casion. 

Life  in  those  days  was  a  steady  round  of  work,  even 
for  the  young  people,  with  very  little  play  and  still  less 
decoration.  The  clothes  of  all  classes  and  both  sexes 
were  very  plain,  and.  the  cuisine  and  the  food  were  very 
simple.  It  is  true  that  there  were  some  very  rich  people 
in  the  town,  who  had  inherited  and  divided  the  wealth 
of  the  great  merchants  of  the  previous  age,  but  the  rest 
of  the  people  who  were  engaged  in  earning  their  own  liv- 
ing and  ours  had  not  much  to  do  with  them.  They  had 
some  pictures  and  statuary  that,  I  believe,  were  of  no 
great  account,  and  there  was  no  opportunity  for  the 
study  of  art  except  at  the  famous  East  India  Marine 
Museum,  which  was  organized  in  the  early  part  of  the 
century  and  composed  of  seafaring  men  who  had  navi- 
gated Cape  Horn  or  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  as  master 


44  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

or  supercargo,  and  had  brought  home  curiosities  from 
distant  parts  of  the  world,  which  were  the  chief  riches 
of  their  museum.  But  it  did  hold  two  wonderful  casts 
that  made  a  great  impression  on  my  mind,  one  of  the 
Laocoon,  and  the  other  of  the  boy  seated  and  picking 
a  thorn  out  of  his  foot,  which  are  still  very  famous  among 
the  artistic  treasures  of  Europe,  and  there  also  were  prod- 
ucts of  Chinese  and  Indian  art  which  compared  well  with 
more  modern  importations  from  those  distant  regions. 

I  believe  that  Salem  in  the  time  of  my  boyhood  could 
boast  of  a  greater  proportion  of  living  Harvard  graduates 
than  any  other  town  in  the  State,  for  those  old  merchants 
had  had  the  wit  to  send  their  sons  to  college,  and  every 
year  a  liberal  contingent  of  candidates  were  sent  to  Cam- 
bridge. 

For  a  place  of  its  size,  too,  Salem  was  well  supplied 
with  local  newspapers,  which  held  a  high  reputation  in 
the  ranks  of  the  American  press,  The  Salem  Register  and 
The  Salem  Gazette.  The  Gazette  had  had  a  long  career 
and  was  a  dignified  paper  of  somewhat  aristocratic  tone, 
while  The  Register  had  started  as  a  Democratic  paper 
and  was  much  patronized  by  Judge  Story,  who,  I  be- 
lieve, had  something  to  do  with  editing  it  in  his  early 
days,  and  who  wrote  the  verse  which  it  always  main- 
tained at  its  head: 

"Here  shall  the  press  the  people's  rights  maintain 
Unawed  by  influence,  and  unbribed  by  gain 
Here  patriot  truth  its  sacred  precepts  draw 
Pledged  to  Religion,  Liberty  and  Law." 

Each  of  these  came  out  twice  a  week,  The  Register  on 
Monday  and  Thursday,  and  The  Gazette  on  Tuesday 
and  Friday,  and  that  was  about  all  the  people  could  bear, 


SALEM  45 

for  an  attempt  to  convert  The  Gazette  into  a  triweekly 
paper  after  we  began  to  have  daily  papers  from  Boston 
proved  an  entire  failure,  and  was  stigmatized  by  the 
boys  with  a  contemptuous  verse:  "Triweekly,  but  try 
in  vain."  Like  the  local  press  of  every  suburban  town, 
it  had  to  yield  at  last  to  the  greater  success  and  value  of 
the  metropolitan  journals. 

Our  sports  consisted  in  the  winter  of  an  occasional 
sleigh-ride,  and  in  the  summer  of  a  few  rude  games  at 
school  during  recess,  and  ranging  over  the  great  pas- 
tures, which  were  a  relict  of  colonial  days  when  rights 
were  acquired  by  the  inhabitants  who  kept  cows,  which 
gave  them  right  to  pasture  them  within  its  limits.  These 
pastures  extended  all  the  way  from  Salem  to  Lynn,  and 
were  great  places  of  resort.  My  father  also  kept  cows, 
never  less  than  two,  which  we  took  care  of  and  milked 
and  drove  to  pasture,  and  thought  we  enjoyed  it,  and 
I  had  special  opportunities  for  driving  about,  as  my  father 
often  took  me  in  his  chaise,  on  his  round  of  professional 
visits,  to  hold  the  horse. 

We  also  had  much  to  do  with  assisting  my  mother 
about  the  household  work,  for  servants  were  very  few 
in  those  days  and  large  families  were  brought  up  with 
the  aid  of  not  more  than  one  or  two  servants  with  oc- 
casional help  of  chorewomen  called  in  for  the  purpose, 
but  we  did  have  a  good,  sound,  wholesome  training  and 
education  in  schools  of  a  high  character  which  then  sprang 
up  all  over  the  State  under  the  inspiration  of  Horace 
Mann,  and  the  brutality  that  had  been  maintained 
steadily  in  the  first  grammar-school  that  I  attended, 
with  its  squalid  accompaniments,  was  speedily  put  an 
end  to.  Flogging  which  had  there  prevailed  to  an  un- 
limited extent  was  practically  abolished,  although  the 


46  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

right  to  punish  in  that  way  was  still  reserved  for  serious 
cases. 

I  have  said  that  our  education  was  all  without  cost 
to  my  father  until  we  entered  Harvard,  but  I  do  not 
mean  training  in  the  accomplishments  of  life,  for  I  was 
sent  to  three  institutions  of  that  kind,  the  dancing-school 
under  the  famous  Papanti,  the  singing-school  under 
Jacob  Hood,  and  a  drawing-school  under  Robert  Conner, 
who  was,  I  believe,  an  imported  Irishman  and  a  very 
good  teacher;  but  the  results  in  these  three  establish- 
ments were  not  very  flattering  to  my  pride,  for  I  re- 
member on  one  occasion,  after  a  serious  trip-up,  being 
sent  home  by  Papanti  with  a  message  to  my  parents 
that  I  was  a  disgrace  to  my  family,  and  after  I  had 
cultivated  the  art  of  drawing,  as  I  supposed  with  suc- 
cess, for  about  two  years,  Mr.  Conner  took  my  father 
aside  and  whispered  to  him  confidentially  that  he  need 
not  send  me  any  more  to  the  school,  because  he  really 
could  not  teach  me  any  more,  and  in  singing-school  I 
never  reached  the  dignity  of  singing  alone,  but  only  in 
very  bad  school  choruses. 

As  my  youthful  years  progressed  there  was  one  form 
of  entertainment  that  I  found  most  useful  and  instruc- 
tive. I  mean  the  Iyceum  lectures  that  at  that  time  pre- 
vailed generally  throughout  New  England  in  the  larger 
towns  and  cities  in  the  winter  season.  We  regarded  it 
as  a  great  thing  to  have  the  most  distinguished  men  of 
letters  in  the  country  come  and  deliver  discourses  on 
interesting  subjects,  and  I  believe  that  I  was  always  a 
faithful  attendant  in  all  the  later  years  of  my  school  days 
on  these  courses.  When  such  men  as  Doctor  Holmes 
and  Mr.  Emerson,  James  Russell  Lowell,  and  their  dis- 
tinguished colleagues  in  Boston  came,   we  hung  upon 


SALEM  47 

their  lips  with  the  most  devout  attention.  I  believe  that 
this  form  of  entertainment  afterwards  declined,  owing, 
I  suppose,  to  the  universal  introduction  of  magazines 
and  weeklies  which  brought  home  to  every  house  in- 
struction in  subjects  similar  to  those  to  which  we  had 
been  so  long  used  in  the  lectures  of  the  Iyceum. 

There  was  also  another  form  of  entertainment  which, 
as  the  years  advanced,  I  found  especially  fascinating 
and  which,  perhaps,  had  some  influence  in  shaping  my 
subsequent  career,  and  that  was  attendance  upon  the 
sessions  of  the  higher  courts  of  record,  the  business  of 
which,  so  far  as  it  pertained  to  anything  like  local  im- 
portance in  Essex  County,  had  not  yet  been  absorbed, 
as  it  now  is,  by  the  greater  city  of  Boston.  The  sessions 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  presided  over  by  Chief  Justice 
Shaw  and  his  associates,  were  always  a  great  attraction, 
especially  in  the  jury  trials,  where  the  jurors  were  selected, 
two  panels  for  each  term,  and  composed  of  citizens  of 
high  character,  and  these  drew  for  their  professional 
labors  men  of  distinction  from  other  counties  besides 
Essex. 

I  remember  well  seeing  and  hearing  Samuel  Hoar, 
of  Concord,  Rufus  Choate,  of  Boston,  Benjamin  F.  But- 
ler and  Thomas  Hopkinson,  of  Lowell,  Otis  P.  Lord, 
who  was  afterwards  a  valuable  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  many  other  distinguished  men,  and  it  was 
a  special  treat  to  me  to  hear  their  discussions  and  con- 
tests with  each  other  and  with  the  members  of  the  Salem 
bar,  which  was  then  still  of  great  importance,  and  in 
the  absence  of  theatres,  which  were  up  to  that  time  un- 
known in  Salem,  these  sessions  of  the  court  afforded 
quite  as  much  tragedy  and  comedy  as  any  ordinary  theatre 
would  have  done. 


48 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


The  preparation  for  college  was  of  the  best  quality 
then  known,  and  I  think  quite  as  good  as  any  that  has 
succeeded  it  up  to  the  present  time.  After  a  full  course 
in  the  common  schools  and  three  years  in  the  high  school, 
covering  the  ordinary  branches  of  English  school  educa- 
tion, we  had  a  special  school  where  nothing  was  taught 
but  Greek,  Latin,  and  mathematics,  and  all  by  a  single 
teacher  who  was  a  special  expert  in  the  preparation  of 
boys  for  college,  although  his  original  training  in  Eng- 
lish must  have  been  somewhat  imperfect,  as  it  had  not 
rescued  him  from  the  frequent  use  of  the  double  nega- 
tive, and  the  boys  in  the  school  amused  themselves  by 
getting  up  an  exaggerated  example  of  this  as  illustrative 
of  his  mode  of  addressing  blockheads  that  came  under 
his  hands,  something  like  this: 

"You  don't  know  nothing,  and  you  never  did  know 
nothing,  and  it  don't  seem  as  if  I  could  not  never  teach 
you  nothing  nohow  apparently." 

But  he  was  a  splendid  teacher,  nevertheless,  and  got 
us  all  into  college  with  flying  colors.  I  believe  that  this 
school  has  been  absorbed  now  and  made  a  part  of  the 
high  school,  which,  in  my  judgment,  was  a  sad  departure 
from  the  very  best  method  as  it  then  prevailed  in  Salem, 
in  Boston,  and  in  Roxbury,  the  Latin  schools  of  which 
sent  the  best-prepared  students  to  enter  at  Harvard. 

This  school  was  claimed  to  be  the  first  public  school 
in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts,  although  I  think  that 
the  claim  of  the  Boston  Latin  School  to  have  preceded 
it  in  its  origin  may  have  some  foundation,  but  as  Salem 
was  founded  some  ten  years  before  Boston,  I  have  al- 
ways been  inclined  to  believe  that  this  school  was  the 
first  in  the  colony,  and  that  in  some  way  or  other  it  had 
been  continued  uninterruptedly  down  to  my  time. 


SALEM  49 

At  any  rate  there  was  inscribed  upon  the  wall  of  the 
schoolroom  the  words  "Schola  publica  prima,"  and  the 
name  of  George  Downing  as  its  first  pupil.  Of  this  an- 
tiquity we  members  of  the  school  were  not  aJittle  proud, 
as  it  seemed  to  give  a  sort  of  historical  renown  and  cer- 
tainly an  interesting  tradition  to  the  school. 

This  George  Downing  afterwards  became  a  member 
of  the  first  class  that  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 
1642,  where  his  name  is  entered  "George  Downing, 
Knight  1660,  Baronet  1663,  Tutor,  Ambassador  to 
Netherlands  from  Cromwell  and  Charles  Second,  M.P.," 
and  as  the  names  of  the  members  of  the  class  were  then 
entered  according  to  social  distinction  of  their  family  his 
name  appears  second,  as  he  was  a  nephew  of  John  Win- 
throp,  the  founder  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts. We  always  enjoyed  the  idea  of  having  been 
schoolmates  of  this  celebrity,  although  two  hundred 
years  apart. 

I  remember  referring  to  this  at  a  lord  mayor's  dinner 
in  London,  in  1902  I  think  it  was,  when  I  was  called  upon 
to  speak  for  the  diplomatic  corps,  and  I  gave  them  the 
history  of  George  Downing  as  I  had  studied  it  out  for 
the  occasion;  how  he  had  been  secretary  of  the  treasury 
in  England  in  1667,  and  had  represented  England  at 
the  Netherlands  as  ambassador  from  Charles  the  First, 
from  Cromwell,  and  from  Charles  the  Second;  what  a 
wonderful  turncoat  he  had  been  to  be  permitted  to  rep- 
resent the  Protector  as  well  as  the  two  Stuart  Kings  who 
preceded  and  followed  him;  how  by  the  favor  of  Charles 
the  Second  he  had  acquired  a  vast  tract  of  land  in  Lon- 
don, in  close  proximity  to  what  is  now  the  very  seat  of 
government,  all  of  which  had  disappeared  except  the 
little  cul-de-sac  called  Downing  Street,  which  leads  in 


5o  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

to  the  Foreign  Office,  so  that  his  name  is  stamped  in- 
delibly upon  the  very  seat  and  centre  of  the  British  Em- 
pire, as  I  had  hoped  that  it  would  be  upon  the  school 
which  he  and  I  attended. 

When  I  sat  down,  Lord  Salisbury,  who  was  then  prime 
minister  and  had  made  the  great  speech  of  the  evening, 
turned  to  me  and  said:  "Where  did  you  find  out  all  that? 
I  never  heard  anything  about  it."  And  I  replied:  "Why, 
I  made  a  special  study  of  it,  as  I  felt  I  ought  to  know 
the  history  of  the  spot  on  which  all  my  official  business 
in  England  was  conducted." 

Before  I  bid  farewell  to  Salem  I  ought  to  say  that 
Salem  as  I  knew  it  when  I  left  to  go  to  Harvard,  in  1848, 
still  remains  practically  unmarred  and  undisturbed  by 
the  late  terrible  conflagration  there.  AH  the  streets, 
highways,  and  byways  that  I  knew  as  a  boy  still  remain 
as  they  were,  and  only  a  great  exterior  range  of  build- 
ings, stores,  and  residences  which  had  been  built  up  since 
that  day  were  destroyed  in  the  fire,  which  called  the  at- 
tention of  the  whole  world  in  191 2  to  that  ancient  town. 

There  must  have  been  something  in  the  air  of  Salem 
or  in  the  tone  of  the  school  which  gave  special  vitality 
to  the  boys  who  were  educated  there,  for  of  my  class 
at  Harvard,  which  consisted  of  eighty-eight  members, 
gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  there  are  at  the 
time  of  the  present  writing  five  survivors,  four  of  whom 
entered  with  me  at  the  Salem  Latin  School,  and  from 
there  we  proceeded  together  to  the  college. 

I  think  that  like  the  other  towns  on  the  eastern  shore 
of  Massachusetts,  which  were  all  of  purely  English  origin, 
Salem  must  have  retained  by  tradition  many  usages  of 
transatlantic  origin  or  derived  from  the  customs  of  the 
first  settlers.     For  instance,  the  curfew  bell  which,  I  be- 


SALEM  51 

Iieve,  still  rings  regularly  as  it  has  for  the  last  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  years  was  certainly  an  importation 
from  the  old  country,  and  the  town  crier  must  have  been 
of  similar  origin.  He  was  employed  to  give  notices  of 
sales,  losses  of  children,  losses  of  dogs,  and  other  im- 
portant local  events.  He  carried  a  hand-bell  and  would 
stop  at  each  corner  as  he  passed  down  Essex  Street  and 
ring  the  bell  with  all  his  might,  and  we  gathered  about 
him  with  great  interest  to  hear  the  news,  whatever  it 
might  be,  as  with  a  stentorian  voice  that  could  be  heard 
the  length  of  a  block  he  would  utter  his  important  in- 
telligence, while  we  all  listened  with  mouths  and  ears 
wide  open.  And  then  there  was  the  local  vender,  a  quaint 
old  Frenchman,  old  Monarque,  whose  name  must  be 
added  to  our  foreigners  of  distinction,  for  he  dealt  in  a 
very  limited  number  of  articles  as  he  drove  his  push- 
cart all  about  the  town,  shouting  in  broken  English: 
"Pickledy  limes,  and  tamadirinds,  two  for  a  cent  a  piece." 
This,  too,  must  have  been  an  old  English  mode  of  ad- 
vertising before  the  days  of  newspapers. 

In  the  First  Church,  of  which  my  father  was  a  pillar, 
which  had  become  under  the  influence  of  Channing  a 
very  strong  Unitarian  body,  when  they  came  to  install 
a  new  clergyman  in  1848,  instead  of  having  a  clerical 
array  of  participants  to  administer  the  laying  on  of  hands, 
the  service  was  performed  by  Doctor  Choate,  who,  as  I 
have  said,  delivered  an  address  on  the  occasion,  and  it 
was  said  that  the  proceedings  were  exactly  like  those 
which  had  taken  place  two  hundred  and  nineteen  years 
before  when  the  church  was  first  established. 

Wednesday  afternoon,  like  Saturday  afternoon,  was 
always  a  general  holiday  for  the  schools,  because  in  the 
early  colony  days  there  was  a  religious  lecture  delivered 


52  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

every  Wednesday,  and  from  that  time  down  the  Wednes- 
day holiday  was  called  lecture  afternoon. 

So,  also,  for  hundreds  of  years  all  work  on  Sunday 
was  prohibited,  even  the  necessary  cooking  for  the  family. 
There  were  public  bakehouses  to  which  private  families 
on  Saturday  afternoon  sent  their  pots  of  pork  and  beans, 
of  Indian  pudding,  and  brown  bread,  which  were  ready 
for  them  hot  on  Sunday  morning  and  delivered  to  those 
who  had  sent  them,  and  you  would  see  a  long  string  of 
callers  every  Sunday  morning  at  the  entrance  of  each 
of  the  bakehouses.  Sunday  began  at  sundown  on  Satur- 
day, and  nothing  but  good  books  were  allowed  to  be 
read  by  the  children  until  the  sun  had  set  on  Sunday 
afternoon. 

We  had  one  great  political  excitement,  the  first  in 
which  I  took  an  interest  at  the  premature  age  of  eight, 
having  been  born  in  the  administration  of  Andrew  Jack- 
son, in  his  second  term,  and  survived  that  of  Martin 
Van  Buren,  which  embraced  the  almost  fatal  panic  of 
1837.  The  nomination  of  "Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too," 
William  Henry  Harrison  and  John  Tyler  for  President 
and  Vice-President,  excited  the  enthusiasm  of  all  of  us 
boys,  which  was  brought  to  a  white  heat  when  a  huge 
log  cabin  was  erected,  with  a  hard-cider  barrel  in  the 
rear  and  a  live  coon  at  the  front  door,  where  the  con- 
stant meetings  of  this  campaign  were  held.  I  think  nearly 
all  the  people  of  Salem  who  had  suffered  from  the  hard 
times  were  for  the  Whig  ticket  and  were  strongly  tempted 
by  the  cry  of  "Two  dollars  a  day  and  roast  beef,"  which 
was  the  catchword  of  that  campaign.  AH  the  distin- 
guished orators  of  the  country  came  to  speak,  among 
whom  I  remember  notably  Tom  Corwin,  of  Ohio,  who, 
after  a  life  of  great  distinction,  afterwards  voted  against 


SALEM  53 

supplies  for  the  army  during  the  Mexican  War  and  came 
to  an  end  of  his  political  career.  In  the  election  of  our 
candidates  there  was  great  universal  exultation  until, 
a  month  after  his  inauguration,  President  Harrison  died, 
and  John  Tyler  turned  traitor  to  his  party  and  led  the 
democracy.  I  well  remember  attending  the  funeral  cere- 
monies of  President  Harrison  and  listening  to  a  eulogy 
of  the  deceased  President  on  Salem  common  with  a  crape 
band  on  my  arm  nearly  a  foot  wide,  and  while  I  was  lis- 
tening this  band  was  snatched  away  by  some  unde- 
serving Democrat,  and  I  went  home  in  tears,  whether 
more  for  the  President  or  the  lost  band  I  cannot  at  this 
distance  of  time  state. 

I  have  said  that  we  were  not  much  given  to  sport, 
or  not  at  all,  but  I  must  make  one  exception.  We  played 
cards  a  great  deal.  Father  had  a  theory  that  if  he  taught 
us  all  the  games  of  cards  that  he  knew  or  could  learn 
himself,  there  was  no  danger  of  any  of  the  children  tak- 
ing to  gambling  when  they  grew  up,  and  so  it  proved. 
There  was  not  a  well-known  game  of  cards  that  we  were 
not  taught,  and  the  result  was  just  as  he  had  calculated. 
This,  I  think,  would  be  a  very  wise  example  to  follow 
in  every  family,  especially  in  these  days  of  auction  bridge, 
which  is,  I  believe,  doing  much  mischief  in  many  a  com- 
munity. It  operated  just  as  well  as  his  theory  about 
work  did,  that  if  he  established  a  habit  of  regular  work 
among  the  children  they  would  become  lovers  of  work 
for  its  own  sake  when  they  grew  up,  and  so  again  it  proved. 
Nothing  could  be  more  simple,  wholesome,  and  healthy 
than  our  bringing-up  was,  and  we  all  had  abundant  reason 
to  be  grateful  for  it  in  our  subsequent  life. 

Our  family  at  Salem  consisted  not  only  of  the  four 
brothers,  of  whom  I  have  already  said  so  much,  but  we 


54  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

had  two  sisters,  Elizabeth  and  Caroline,  one  older  and 
one  younger  than  myself,  who,  like  their  mother,  proved 
to  be  women  of  sterling  character  and  of  the  highest 
ideals.  Elizabeth  was  born  in  September,  1829,  nearly 
two  years  and  a  half  before  me.  They  were  both  very 
important  members  of  our  family.  Beyond  the  public 
schools  at  that  time  there  was  no  provision  for  the  higher 
education  of  women.  Colleges  for  women  had  not  yet 
been  thought  of,  and  the  only  recourse  was  to  select 
private  schools  for  girls,  with  which  Salem  for  two  or 
three  generations  had  been  richly  provided.  In  my 
mother's  time  there  was  a  very  celebrated  teacher  of 
very  high  grade  named  Thomas  Cole,  to  whom  the 
daughters  of  all  the  leading  families  of  Salem  were  sent 
and  reared  with  great  success.  He  turned  them  out  well- 
educated  and  accomplished  women,  and  was  very  much 
assisted,  as  I  believe,  by  Professor  Louvrier,  who  at  the 
same  time  trained  them  in  foreign  languages,  and  they 
were  followed  in  subsequent  years  by  a  very  famous 
school,  kept  by  Miss  Ward,  to  whom  my  sisters,  with 
other  choice  girls  of  that  period,  were  intrusted  with 
the  same  success. 

Elizabeth  was  a  girl  of  really  fine  genius,  to  whom 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge  came  easily  by  nature.  She 
also  came  to  be  a  very  excellent  musician,  and  was  a 
very  bright  feature  of  the  family,  warm-hearted  and 
most  devoted  to  the  rest  of  us.  When  she  came  of  age, 
in  1850,  there  was  every  prospect  of  a  brilliant  career 
for  her,  and  she  aspired  to  follow  the  example  of  Miss 
Ward,  whose  reputation  was  exceedingly  high,  and  be- 
come herself  a  teacher.  For  a  short  time  she  did  assist 
General  Henry  K.  Oliver,  with  whom  she  had  been  a 
pupil,   in  his  classes,   but,   unfortunately,  to  the  great 


SALEM  55 

distress  of  the  family,  she  within  a  very  few  years  showed 
symptoms  of  that  insidious  disease,  tuberculosis,  of  which 
at  that  time  the  medical  faculty  had  very  little  control, 
and  it  seemed  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  disease 
must  take  its  course  and  that  a  fatal  result,  sooner  or 
later,  was  inevitable.  Every  effort  was  made  to  resist 
the  progress  of  her  trouble  by  long  summers  in  the  coun- 
try in  the  hope  that  the  fresh-air  cure  would  benefit  her, 
as  it  undoubtedly  did  for  a  while,  but  at  the  age  of  thirty 
we  met  with  an  infinite  loss  in  her  death,  which  caused 
the  first  break  in  our  family  circle,  and  which  was  sadly 
deplored  by  us  all.  Strange  to  say,  my  mother,  who 
lived  to  be  such  a  noble  pillar  of  health  and  strength, 
lost  her  elder  sister  at  about  the  same  age  and  from  the 
same  hopeless  malady.  In  both  instances  the  surviving 
sister  and  all  the  brothers  were  wholly  free  from  any 
manifestations  of  the  infirmity  and  were  lifelong  models 
of  robust  health. 

My  sister  Caroline,  who  was  nearly  three  years  younger 
than  I  and  was  very  charming  and  handsome,  was  edu- 
cated in  the  same  way  as  her  elder  sister,  and  was  much 
beloved  and  admired,  not  only  in  her  own  family  but  by 
every  one  who  met  her.  At  the  age  of  twenty-six  she 
married  a  charming  German,  Doctor  Ernst  Bruno  de 
Gersdorff,  who  had  settled  in  Salem  as  a  practising  phy- 
sician some  ten  years  before,  and  he  also  had  become  a 
very  great  favorite  among  Salem's  best  people.  He  was 
born  at  Eisenach  in  the  Duchy  of  Saxe-Weimar  in  the 
year  1825,  and  was  very  highly  educated  and  accomplished 
before  he  came  to  this  country.  His  father  was  for  many 
years  chief  justice  of  the  Duchy  of  Saxe-Weimar,  and 
moved  in  that  wonderful  circle  of  learning  and  culture 
of  which  Goethe  had  been  recognized  leader,  and  as  the 


56  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

young  de  Gersdorff  was  twelve  years  old  before  the  death 
of  Goethe  he  must  have  been  deeply  affected  and  in- 
fluenced by  the  wonderful  impression  which  that  great 
poet  and  philosopher  made  upon  the  community  in  which 
he  lived,  and  to  which  youthful  minds  were  so  receptive 
and  susceptible. .  When  the  stirring  times  of  1848  came 
on  in  Europe  and  the  revolutionary  spirit  broke  out  in 
Germany,  which  captivated  and  involved  so  many  young 
men,  de  GersdorfFs  elder  brother  was  mixed  up  with 
some  transactions  which  excited  the  attention  and  censure 
of  the  government,  and  he  had  to  leave  Germany.  As 
the  suspicion  of  complicity  was  supposed  to  have  ex- 
tended to  the  younger  brother  also,  his  father  thought 
best  that  he  should  come  to  America,  and  he  accom- 
panied his  younger  son  to  this  country,  where  he  settled, 
as  I  have  said,  at  Salem.  He  was  full  of  sentiment,  poet- 
ical, musical,  and  devoted  to  all  high  accomplishments. 
He  was  devoted  to  art,  and  was  himself  no  mean  artist. 
After  a  long  and  useful  life,  for  a  while  in  Salem  and  after- 
wards in  Boston,  he  died  in  1883.  He  was  of  the  same 
type  as  Carl  Schurz,  Doctor  Jacobi,  and  other  famous 
German  exiles  for  freedom,  and  had  the  same  German 
culture  of  Goethe's  day,  a  genial  and  estimable  and  highly 
accomplished  gentleman,  and  left  a  delightful  memory 
among  the  people  of  all  classes  without  distinction  of 
medical  schools.  His  father  had  been,  I  believe,  an  inti- 
mate friend  of  Hahnemann,  the  famous  founder  of  homoe- 
opathy, and  he  had  been  brought  up  as  a  follower  of  that 
leader.  He  had  been  educated  at  Jena  and  Leipsic,  and, 
of  course,  was  all  ready  for  the  practice  of  his  profession 
when  he  arrived  in  America. 

Mrs.  de  Gersdorff  was  a  most  devoted  and  always 
anxious  mother,  and  at  the  early  age  of  fifty-five  she  fell 


SALEM  si 

a  victim  of  her  own  solicitude.  One  of  her  sons  had  been 
operated  upon  at  Saint  Luke's  Hospital,  in  New  York, 
and  she  insisted,  against  the  protest  of  her  friends,  in 
taking  a  room  at  the  hospital  to  watch  his  recovery,  where 
she  took  cold  and  died  in  a  very  few  days  of  pneumonia. 
She  had  a  splendid  constitution  and  ought,  like  her 
mother,  to  have  lived  to  a  very  ripe  old  age.  She  is  still 
remembered  by  many  surviving  friends,  to  whom  she 
had  greatly  endeared  herself.  She  left  two  sons,  who 
graduated  at  Harvard  in  1887  and  1888,  and  who  hold 
well  recognized  positions  in  New  York. 


HARVARD  COLLEGE 

We  were  taught  to  look  forward  to  graduation  at  Har- 
vard as  the  only  possible  way  of  entering  upon  active 
life,  and  my  first  visit  to  that  renowned  seat  of  learning 
was  at  the  commencement  in  1846,  when  my  oldest 
brother  graduated,  and  I  drove  up  with  Thomas  Drew, 
a  famous  caterer  in  Salem,  who  carried  a  wagon-load 
of  table  furniture  and  supplies  for  the  simple  spread  of 
that  day.  In  the  church  as  the  exercises  proceeded  I 
saw  a  distinguished-looking  man  on  the  front  of  the  plat- 
form with  a  shiny,  pointed,  and  very  bald  head,  and  when 
I  asked  who  that  was,  it  proved  to  be  ex-President  John 
Quincy  Adams,  who  was  the  earliest  President  of  the 
United  States  whom  I  ever  saw,  and  as  he  had  been  the 
sixth  President  it  seemed  to  carry  us  a  very  great  way 
back. 

My  brother  William  and  I  were  always  together  at 
school  as  long  as  I  can  remember,  for  some  early  illness 
had  retarded  his  progress  at  the  start,  and  we  went  up 
for  our  examinations  at  last  in  the  summer  of  1848,  and 
now  as  I  am  writing  all  but  five  of  those  who  had  then 
graduated  at  that  ancient  university  have  passed  away. 
The  examinations  for  entrance  at  that  date  were  not 
formidable,  although  they  covered,  I  believe,  a  portion 
of  two  succeeding  days,  and  were  partly  oral  and  partly 
in  writing.  At  the  close  of  the  second  day  the  list  was 
read  off  of  those  who  had  successfully  passed  the  ex- 
aminations in  the  order  of  the  marks  they  had  received, 
and  I  was  quite  surprised  to  find  my  name  led  all  the 

58 


HARVARD  COLLEGE  59 

rest,  but  William,  who  was  a  far  better  scholar,  soon 
took  the  lead  and  held  it  without  any  mishap  for  the 
whole  four  years'  course. 

The  transition  from  the  narrow  and  limited  life  of 
our  boyhood  to  the  broader  and  freer  life  at  Harvard 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  was  quite  a  startling  one.  We  were 
now  comparatively  our  own  masters,  and,  subject  to 
the  rules  and  requirements  of  the  college,  could  do  as 
we  pleased,  and  our  eyes  opened  wide  to  see  what  our 
new  freedom  really  meant.  The  routine  of  our  physical 
lives  was  new  and  most  interesting.  Athletics  as  yet 
were  practically  unknown,  although  there  was,  if  I  rightly 
recollect,  a  small  gymnasium  already  upon  the  Delta, 
where  those  who  wished  could  exercise  every  day,  but 
if  there  was  one  thing  that  I  hated  then  and  always  after- 
wards more  than  another  it  was  practising  in  the  gym- 
nasium, and  so  I  had  little  to  do  with  that.  Boston, 
four  miles  away,  was  the  great  attraction,  with  all  its 
historical  associations  and  places  to  visit.  I  do  not  recol- 
lect ever  having  been  there,  or  even  outside  the  bounds 
of  Essex  County,  more  than  twice  before  I  entered  Har- 
vard, and  as  there  was  no  conveyance  to  Boston  but  the 
omnibus  we  almost  always  walked.  Walking  I  have 
always  found  to  be  very  nearly  the  best  exercise  for 
health  and  recreation  that  anybody  could  take. 

There  had  been,  I  believe,  a  boat  club  in  existence 
in  previous  years,  but  as  the  members  committed  some 
excesses  after  rowing  into  Boston  to  the  theatre  the  club 
was  suppressed  with  a  strong  hand  by  President  Everett, 
and  was  not  renewed  until  Charles  W.  Eliot,  of  the  class 
after  mine,  with  his  splendid  physical  vigor,  succeeded 
in  reviving  it.  Football  was  not  unknown;  but  it  was 
limited  in  our  time  to  a  single  game  on  the  first  Monday 


60  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

of  the  year  between  the  freshmen  and  sophomores,  and 
consisted  simply  of  seeing  which  could  force  the  ball 
beyond  the  goal  of  the  other  side,  without  any  of  the 
modern  devices  or  contrivances  which  have  brought  the 
game  to  such  perfection  under  the  leadership  of  Percy 
Haughton  as  trainer.  There  was  an  attempt,  also,  to 
introduce  the  game  of  cricket,  which  had  had  such  dis- 
tinction always  in  England,  but  this  also  came  to  nothing. 
The  walks  to  Boston  and  a  daily  walk  to  Mount  Au- 
burn, with  an  occasional  excursion  farther  afield,  sufficed 
to  keep  us  in  good  condition.  I  took  what  I  thought  one 
very  long  walk  in  these  excursions  abroad.  One  hot 
summer  night,  near  the  close  of  the  term,  in  early  June, 
I  was  walking  with  my  friend  and  classmate  David 
Cheever,  afterwards  the  celebrated  surgeon  in  Boston, 
and  we  got  out  on  the  turnpike  to  a  sign  that  said,  "Cam- 
bridge two  miles  and  a  half;  Concord  twelve  miles  and 
a  half,"  and  in  a  rash  moment  I  said  to  him:  "Cheever, 
I  will  stump  you  to  walk  to  Concord."  "AH  right,"  he 
said,  and  as  it  was  my  challenge  I  could  not  very  well 
back  out,  and  we  walked  on.  We  got  up  to  Concord, 
having  lost  our  way  in  going  through  Lexington,  some 
time  after  midnight,  I  could  not  say  exactly  when,  and 
being  slightly  fatigued  we  stopped  at  the  hotel  and  asked 
for  a  glass  of  whiskey  or  brandy,  but  it  was  in  the  days 
of  the  Maine  law,  and  the  landlord  said  that  it  was  an 
absolute  impossibility;  however,  we  pressed  our  claim 
and  told  him  that  we  had  got  to  get  back  to  the  college 
for  morning  prayers  at  six  o'clock.  He  finally  yielded 
and  said,  "Come  with  me,"  and  gave  us  a  delightful 
illustration  of  how  the  Maine  law  was  executed.  He 
led  us  through  a  labyrinth  of  cellars,  up  against  what 
appeared  to  be  a  blank  wall,  but  he  touched  a  spring 


HARVARD  COLLEGE  61 

and  a  door  opened,  and  inside  was  found  a  barrel  with 
a  board  across  it,  a  pitcher  of  water,  a  bowl  of  sugar, 
and  bottles  of  whiskey  and  brandy,  and  we  took  a  very 
refreshing  drink.  After  a  tramp  of  somewhat  over  thirty 
miles,  as  we  reckoned  it,  we  got  back  to  morning  prayers 
just  as  the  bell  was  ringing,  and  after  that  we  got  break- 
fast and  slept  for  the  rest  of  the  day. 

I  always  regretted  that  the  Harvard  Washington 
Corps,  which  had  been  in  existence  in  my  father's  time 
in  college  and  had  given  its  members  a  good  deal  of  mili- 
tary training,  had  long  before  been  abandoned.  How 
much  better  it  would  have  been  for  us  all  if  it  had  main- 
tained its  healthful  and  inspiring  existence  until  now! 

Our  first  year  was  the  last  year  of  the  college  commons, 
which  down  to  that  time  had  been  maintaining  a  some- 
what precarious  existence,  and  at  the  end  of  our  fresh- 
man year  was  abandoned  forever.  It  was  quite  exciting, 
however,  for  us  to  find  ourselves  for  the  first  time  taking 
all  our  meals  with  a  large  number  of  our  fellow  collegians, 
although  the  fare  was  very  moderate.  The  tables  were 
spread  in  the  basement  of  University  Hall,  the  building 
in  which  at  that  time  almost  all  the  college  exercises  of 
every  kind  were  conducted,  for  it  held  not  only  the  din- 
ing-rooms but  the  chapel,  and  nearly  all  the  recitation 
and  lecture  rooms.  The  commons  were  divided  into  two 
branches,  one  at  what  now  seems  the  moderate  price 
of  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  a  week,  and  the  other,  where 
we  had  meat  one  day  and  pudding  the  next,  and  which 
was,  therefore,  commonly  called  "Starvation  Hollow," 
at  two  dollars  a  week,  but  my  brother  William  and  I 
and  several  of  our  classmates  from  Salem  of  equally  mod- 
erate financial  ability  ate  in  "Starvation  Hollow,"  and 
found  it  quite  wholesome  and  sufficient. 


62  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

The  necessary  expenses  in  our  first  year  were  mod- 
erate enough  to  startle  any  modern  members  of  the 
university  as  compared  with  the  present  schedule.  The 
tuition  was  seventy-five  dollars  a  year,  and  all  it  cost 
William  and  myself,  who  always  roomed  together,  for 
room  rent  during  our  whole  four  years  at  Harvard  was 
ninety  dollars,  which  happened  in  this  way.  The  first 
year  we  roomed  in  Holworthy,  and  our  apartment  seemed 
to  us  to  be  royal,  for  there  was  a  parlor,  very  simply  but 
comfortably  furnished,  of  course  at  our  expense,  and 
two  bedrooms,  and  the  only  service  we  had  or  thought 
of  was  that  of  the  "goody,"  so-called,  who  came  every 
day  to  make  the  beds  and  clear  up  the  rooms.  The  fresh- 
man year  we  were  what  was  called  "Tutor's  Freshmen, 
that  is  to  say,  Francis  J.  Child,  that  famous  scholar, 
who  had  just  returned  from  abroad  and  had  been  made 
tutor  in  English,  was  the  parietal  officer  in  the  middle 
entry  of  Holworthy,  and  had  the  best  room  on  the  second 
floor,  and  we  were  his  freshmen  and  subject  to  his  call 
at  any  time,  but  the  only  call  that  I  can  remember  dur- 
ing that  year  that  he  made  upon  us  was  a  single  sum- 
mons to  a  student  to  whom  he  wished  to  administer  ad- 
monition, and  for  this  service  we  had  our  rooms  free. 

The  next  year  we  roomed  in  HoIIis,  where  we  had  a 
single  room  together,  of  reasonably  large  dimensions. 
The  third  year  in  Stoughton,  where  we  were  similarly 
accommodated,  and  the  fourth  year  as  seniors  again  we 
got  into  the  third  story  of  Holworthy  in  the  east  entry, 
and  paid  for  each  of  these  years  the  same  rent  of  thirty 
dollars,  fifteen  dollars  apiece,  rooms  that  I  think  now 
rent  for  many  times  that  amount.  But  the  college  then 
was  not  so  much  in  need  of  money,  and  treated  the  rooms 
in  the  various  dormitories,  as  they  had  been  intended  to 


»> 


HARVARD  COLLEGE  63 

be  treated  by  their  munificent  donors  fifty  or  one  hun- 
dred years  before,  as  the  practically  free  homes  of  the 
students  whom  they  housed.  To  maintain  a  fair  equity 
the  dean  or  steward,  who  had  the  distribution  of  the 
rooms  from  year  to  year,  assigned  those  who  had  the 
poor  rooms,  as  we  had  had  in  the  junior  and  sophomore 
years,  to  the  better  rooms  in  the  senior  year,  thus  bring- 
ing us  back  to  Holworthy. 

Our  dress  did  not  differ  substantially  from  what  we 
had  been  accustomed  to,  except  that  by  the  college 
statute,  which  had  been  in  existence  probably  from  the 
beginning,  each  student  was  required  to  have  for  Sun- 
days and  exhibitions  "a  black  coat  with  buttons  of  the 
same." 

Our  first  president,  who  signed  our  admittatur  after 
six  months'  probation,  as  the  rule  then  was,  was  no  less 
a  person  than  the  very  distinguished  orator  and  states- 
man Edward  Everett,  who  as  a  scholar  also  had  had  a 
very  remarkable  career.  I  do  not  agree  with  those  who 
seek  from  time  to  time  to  belittle  this  great  and  distin- 
guished man.  He  had  entered  Harvard,  I  believe,  at 
the  age  of  thirteen,  graduated  at  seventeen  at  the  head 
of  his  class,  had  been  pastor  of  the  Brattle  Street  Church 
at  Boston  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  had  followed  that  up 
with  deep  study  abroad  for  several  years,  and  then  be- 
came in  turn  tutor  and  professor  at  the  college,  and  had 
been  a  member  of  Congress,  senator,  secretary  of  state 
of  the  United  States,  United  States  minister  to  Great 
Britain,  and  governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  one 
of  the  best-informed  scholars  of  his  time  and  the  great 
orator  of  the  day.  Somehow  or  other,  with  all  that,  he 
was  not  well  suited  to  be  president  of  the  university, 
and  only  held  the  office  for  three  years,  retiring  on  the 


64  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

i  st  of  February,  1849,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  the 
Reverend  Jared  Sparks,  author  of  the  "Life  of  Wash- 
ington," who  held  the  office  for  four  years.  In  the  latter 
part  of  his  time  he  became  disabled,  and  the  office  was 
filled  by  that  great  man,  the  Reverend  Doctor  James 
Walker,  so  that  our  college  papers  were  signed  by  three 
successive  presidents. 

I  always  regarded  Jared  Sparks  as  the  model  presi- 
dent of  the  college  of  that  day,  and  his  three  years  were 
truly  a  halcyon  period  for  the  students.  He  took  no 
trouble  about  them  himself,  and  did  not  allow  anybody 
else  to  trouble  them,  and  when  complaint  was  made  of 
misconduct  his  usual  mode  of  treating  it  was  to  say: 
"Oh,  let  the  boys  alone.  They'll  take  perfectly  good 
care  of  themselves."  And  so  it  proved;  but  I  suppose 
that  according  to  the  standard  of  an  Eliot  or  a  Lowell, 
especially  in  later  years,  the  brief  terms  of  Everett  and 
Sparks  would  be  regarded  as  singularly  inefficient. 

Mr.  Everett  was  noted  for  his  extreme  formality  and 
the  great  dignity  which  he  maintained,  far  out  of  the 
reach  of  the  students.  I  had  hardly  been  at  college  a 
week  when  I  was  greatly  alarmed  at  receiving  a  sum- 
mons to  come  to  the  office  of  the  president's  secretary. 
I  went  at  the  time  appointed  with  fear  and  trembling, 
fear  that  I  had  committed  some  unpardonable  offense, 
and  trembling  lest  I  should  be  dismissed,  and  this  con- 
versation took  place:  "Mr.  Choate,  the  president  ob- 
served with  great  regret  that  you  passed  him  in  Harvard 
Square  yesterday  without  touching  your  hat.  He  hopes 
that  this  offense  will  never  again  be  repeated."  It  never 
was,  but  no  punishment  was  inflicted,  because  down  at 
Salem  hat-touching  was  not  very  common  and  the  for- 
malities of  life  were  not  very  strictly  observed;  but  it  is 


HARVARD  COLLEGE  65 

an  illustration  of  his  relation  to  the  students,  very  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  Jared  Sparks,  who  was  always  very 
glad  to  see  us  and  never  put  himself  out  of  the  way  to 
trouble  us,  or  that  of  President  Eliot  in  later  years,  who 
stalked  through  the  College  Yard  without  taking  notice 
of  anybody,  and  apparently  hoping  that  nobody  would 
take  notice  of  him,  and  really  a  stranger  to  most  of  the 
students. 

There  were  several  great  public  events  that  happened 
while  I  was  in  college:  the  arrival  of  Professor  Louis 
Agassiz,  the  renowned  naturalist,  and  his  employment 
as  professor  and  lecturer  in  the  college;  the  introduction 
of  Cochituate  water  into  Boston;  the  arrival  of  Louis 
Kossuth,  and  the  election  of  Taylor  and  Fillmore  as 
President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  At 
any  rate  they  were  regarded  by  us  students  as  very 
great  events,  because  we  had  never  been  witnesses  of 
anything  so  important  before. 

I  have  always  believed  that  the  accession  of  every 
man  of  great  genius  to  the  teaching  force  of  the  university 
is  the  most  important  thing  that  can  happen  to  it,  and 
that  by  the  prestige  of  his  great  name  and  reputation 
he  does  more  for  the  college  than  almost  anything  else 
can  do.  Exchange  professors  had  not  been  thought  of 
at  that  time,  and  to  get  the  man  who  was  certainly  one 
of  the  most  noted  naturalists  in  the  world  into  our  aca- 
demic body  was  of  truly  unique  importance.  We  lis- 
tened to  Agassiz's  lectures  with  the  profoundest  atten- 
tion, and  he  did  much  to  expand  our  minds  and  thoughts. 

How  the  people  of  Boston  with  its  then  rapid  growth 
ever  got  along  without  pure  water  it  is  not  easy  to  con- 
ceive, and  it  is  no  wonder  that  all  the  civic  bodies  in  and 
around  Boston  took  part  in  the  celebration.    I  remember 


66  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

that  the  whole  student  body  joined  in  the  great  proces- 
sion, which  marched  through  Boston,  to  celebrate  the 
event  of  the  introduction  of  Cochituate  water,  and  as 
I  was  made  marshal  of  my  class  with  Russell  Sturgis 
I  naturally  attributed  tenfold  consequence  to  the  oc- 
casion. As  Boston  has  grown  its  water-supply  that  then 
began  has  grown  steadily  with  it,  and  now  comes  from 
many  sources  and  reservoirs  that  decorate  a  large  tract 
of  country  to  the  west. 

The  election  of  Taylor  was  one  of  the  immediate  re- 
sults of  the  Mexican  War,  in  which  he  had  won  great 
distinction,  but  he  was  probably  as  unfitted  for  the  presi- 
dency as  General  Harrison,  whom  I  had  assisted  in  elect- 
ing as  a  boy  of  eight  in  1840.  His  nomination  had  been 
declared  by  Mr.  Webster,  who  should  have  had  it,  as 
one  not  fit  to  be  made;  but  as  he  advised  his  friends, 
nevertheless,  to  vote  for  Taylor  as  a  safer  alternative 
than  the  Democratic  candidate,  we  all  joined  in  cele- 
brating the  prospect  of  his  election.  I  remember  march- 
ing in  a  torchlight  procession  the  whole  length  of 
Boston  to  the  Roxbury  line,  where,  seeing  a  vacant  lot, 
I  made  haste  to  throw  my  torch  into  it  and  returned  to 
Cambridge  quite  satisfied  with  my  part. 

Then  in  the  midst  of  my  college  career  came  the  great 
compromises  of  1850,  sustained  by  Webster,  Clay,  and 
Calhoun,  which  we  foolishly  thought  had  settled  the 
slavery  question  forever,  although  within  four  years 
they  were  ripped  to  pieces,  and  the  great  events  that 
followed  led  rapidly  to  the  election  of  Lincoln.  The 
utter  collapse  of  these  compromises  so  quickly  after  they 
were  made,  although  they  were  thought  at  that  time  to 
be  of  the  greatest  historical  importance,  shows  how  un- 
reliable is  the  judgment  of  old  leaders  who  have  out- 


HARVARD  COLLEGE  67 

lived  their  best  powers  and  have  no  appreciation  of  the 
direction  which  the  nation's  progress  is  taking.  Clay 
and  Calhoun  both  went  to  their  graves  in  1850,  and  Web- 
ster followed  them  two  years  afterwards,  on  the  24th 
of  October,  1852. 

The  reaction  of  public  opinion  was  instantaneous  and 
almost  universal.  The  great  New  England  statesman's 
7th  of  March  speech,  in  which  he  took  the  ground  that 
it  was  not  necessary  to  re-enact  the  prohibition  of  slavery 
in  regions  from  which,  as  he  contended,  the  laws  of  na- 
ture and  of  climate  had  made  its  existence  impracticable, 
was  a  great  disappointment  to  the  mass  of  the  people 
at  the  North  and  was  construed  by  them  as  a  bid  for 
the  presidency  in  the  next  federal  election,  and  as  an 
abandonment  of  the  splendid  position  that  he  had  pre- 
viously occupied  as  the  representative  of  New  England 
sentiment  and  a  lifelong  advocate  of  the  restriction  of 
slavery,  so  far  as  the  Constitution  would  permit.  The 
doors  of  Faneuil  Hall,  that  historic  cradle  of  liberty, 
were  closed  against  his  friends,  who  wished  to  do  him 
honor  by  a  reception  there,  a  very  stupid  blunder,  for 
they  took  to  the  streets  and,  erecting  a  great  platform 
in  front  of  the  Revere  House,  they  received  him  on  his 
return  from  Washington  with  unbounded  enthusiasm 
and  applause.  I  was  present  on  that  occasion,  for  I  had 
no  sympathy  with  those  who  would  denounce  and  de- 
stroy him  after  his  wonderful  record  in  the  past,  and  it 
was  a  great  satisfaction  to  hear  the  brief  address  of  wel- 
come, which  was  pronounced  by  Judge  Benjamin  R. 
Curtis,  and  Webster's  reply.  He  was  still  a  magnificent 
specimen  of  manhood  and  a  noble  orator,  and  as  we  lis- 
tened to  him  we  could  not  but  think  of  the  immense  ser- 
vices which  he  had  rendered  to  the  country;    especially 


68  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

how  for  two  entire  generations  he  had  done  all  that  one 
man  could  possibly  do  to  arouse  in  the  hearts  of  the  young 
men  of  the  nation  an  intense  spirit  of  nationality  and 
an  undying  devotion  to  the  great  cause  of  liberty  and 
union.  This  service  did  not  and  could  not  die  with  him 
and  counted  largely,  ten  years  afterwards,  in  the  grand 
uprising  of  the  North  for  the  defense  of  the  national 
existence  and  honor  when  the  rebel  assault  upon  Fort 
Sumter  gave  the  signal  for  the  opening  of  our  terrible 
Civil  War. 

The  other  event  to  which  I  have  referred,  the  arrival 
of  Louis  Kossuth,  in  1849,  was  an  event  of  surpassing 
interest  to  all  the  people  of  America.  We  had  sympa- 
thized with  the  splendid  struggle  for  freedom  which  he 
had  so  valiantly  maintained,  just  as  we  are  sympathizing 
to-day  with  the  great  struggle  of  the  Entente  nations 
for  the  overthrow  of  the  same  destructive  militarism 
which  succeeded  then  in  crushing  this  great  champion 
of  freedom,  just  as  it  is  now  seeking,  but  without  suc- 
cess, to  dominate  the  entire  world. 

I  remember  that  we  were  having  one  of  our  semi- 
annual exhibitions,  as  they  were  called,  in  the  chapel, 
in  University  Hall,  on  the  day  when  Kossuth  arrived 
in  Cambridge  at  the  invitation  of  the  authorities  of  the 
university.  These  college  exhibitions  usually  consisted 
of  addresses  or  the  recitation  of  parts,  by  meritorious 
students,  and  took  place  semiannually  as  rewards  of 
merit.  I  happened  to  be  upon  the  programme  but  had 
finished  my  part  when  Kossuth  arrived  and  was  ushered 
into  the  chapel  by  a  committee  of  citizens,  and  delivered 
an  address  in  as  perfect  English  as  I  have  ever  heard 
from  any  English  or  American  orator.  As  he  had  ac- 
quired this  knowledge  of  our  tongue  while  a  prisoner  in 


HARVARD  COLLEGE  69 

an  Austrian  dungeon,  after  the  collapse  of  his  great  enter- 
prise, we  were  lost  in  wonder  at  the  readiness  of  the 
faculty  fay  which  he  had  acquired  such  complete  knowl- 
edge of  a  new  language. 

I  have  seen  it  several  times  repeated  that  on  his  sud- 
den advent  into  the  chapel  I  was  delivering  my  part, 
and  that  having  been  brushed  aside  by  his  entry,  I  in 
some  way  addressed  him  after  his  speech  with  a  tribute 
of  admiration.  It  was  only  yesterday  (November  27, 
1 916)  that  I  read  in  the  personal  recollections  just  pub- 
lished by  one  of  my  contemporaries  at  Harvard,  this 
extraordinary  statement,  that  during  the  interruption 
caused  by  his  entrance  and  address,  I  "seated  on  the 
stage  formed  a  Latin  period  containing  a  graceful  ref- 
erence to  the  guest's  career,  and  on  arising  to  resume  my 
part,  opened  with  the  extemporaneous  compliment  in 
Latin,  which  brought  the  Magyar  orator  again  to  his 
feet  and,  amidst  a  new  explosion  of  applause,  Kossuth 
replied  in  faultless  Latin,  speaking  as  though  it  were  his 
native  tongue.  Nothing  could  have  been  finer."  This 
was  a  pure  outbreak  of  my  friend's  imagination.  I  had 
absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  it,  for  Addison  Brown, 
who  afterwards  was  our  much-admired  admiralty  judge 
in  New  York  for  twenty-five  years,  was  on  the  platform 
when  Kossuth  entered,  and  no  address  or  reference  to 
him  was  made,  as  the  programme  proceeded,  except  a 
few  words  of  reception  by  the  president  of  the  university, 
but  it  only  shows  how  dangerous  it  is  for  men  in  the  ninth 
decade  to  write  and  publish  reminiscences,  which,  up  to 
this  time,  I  have  always  tried  to  avoid. 

Harvard  College  at  the  time  I  entered  it  was  a  com- 
paratively small  affair,  and  as  provincial  and  local  as 
could  well  be  imagined,  and  the  idea  of  its  ever  becom- 


7o  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

ing  the  great  national  university  had,  I  think,  never 
entered  into  anybody's  head.  The  students  in  my  first 
year  numbered  only  549,  including  all  the  professional 
schools,  there  being  theological  students,  19;  law  stu- 
dents, 96;  medical  students,  139;  special  students  in 
chemistry  and  mathematics,  and  citizens  attending 
lectures  in  scientific  school,  16;  and  resident  graduates, 
6,  amounting  together  to  276;  and  the  undergraduates 
being  divided  between  seniors,  75;  juniors,  58;  sopho- 
mores, 68;  and  freshmen,  72,  amounting  in  all  to  273; 
the  whole  comparing  strangely  with  modern  years,  when 
a  single  graduating  class  has  numbered  over  500,  or  nearly 
twice  as  many  as  the  entire  body  of  undergraduates  at 
that  early  period,  and  the  growth  of  the  professional 
and  graduate  departments  has  increased  proportionally. 
My  own  class  and  all  the  classes  of  that  time  were 
composed  chiefly  of  New  England  boys,  a  very  few  com- 
ing from  New  York,  and  about  an  equal  number  from 
the  South,  whose  people  of  wealth  had  long  been  in  the 
habit  of  sending  their  boys  to  Harvard.  I  call  it  pro- 
vincial and  local  because  its  scope  and  outlook  hardly 
extended  beyond  the  boundaries  of  New  England;  be- 
sides which  it  was  very  denominational,  being  held  ex- 
clusively in  the  hands  of  Unitarians.  The  president 
and  all  the  fellows  constituting  the  corporation  were 
Unitarians,  a  majority  of  the  overseers  were  Unitarians, 
and  I  think  that  a  majority  of  the  officers  of  instruction 
and  government  were  of  the  same  faith.  This  caused 
it  to  be  looked  upon  askance  by  the  rest  of  the  United 
States,  where  that  faith  had  not  extended  far,  and  they 
hesitated  to  send  their  sons  to  Harvard  for  fear  of  what 
they  called  its  heretical  tendencies.  It  is  true  that  at 
that  time  the  people  of  Massachusetts  were  largely  of 


HARVARD  COLLEGE  71 

that  faith,  and  the  clergy  of  that  body  in  that  common- 
wealth far  exceeded  in  intellectual  and  personal  force 
those  of  all  the  other  denominations.  There  was  a  fresh- 
man, when  I  was  a  senior,  who  was  destined  to  exercise 
tremendous  influence  in  breaking  down  these  narrow 
barriers  and  vastly  broadening  the  character  and  the 
influence  of  the  college.  I  mean  Bishop  Phillips  Brooks, 
of  the  class  of  '55,  whom  I  remember  perfectly  well  as 
a  freshman,  a  tall  and  slender  stripling  overtopping  the 
rest  of  his  class,  in  a  distant  corner  of  the  chapel,  and  I 
followed  his  course  with  admiration  and  enthusiasm  un- 
til, with  other  men  of  similar  liberal  tendencies,  he  had 
made  the  college  entirely  undenominational  and  opened 
its  doors,  its  curriculum,  and  its  associations  very  wide, 
so  as  to  admit  men  of  all  faiths,  and  of  no  faith,  and  men 
of  all  nations  to  be  enrolled  in  the  undergraduate  classes. 
We  had  compulsory  college  prayers,  held  at  the  unearthly 
hours  of  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  in  winter,  and  six 
in  the  summer,  and  the  rush  from  our  beds  at  the  sound 
of  the  bell  to  the  chapel  was  most  unseemly,  but  Phillips 
Brooks  lived  to  be  the  instrument  of  removing  all  com- 
pulsion, and  made  the  college  in  a  religious  point  of  view 
absolutely  free.  Instead  of  being  limited  to  Unitarian 
preachers  at  prayers  and  on  Sundays,  it  now  has  a  body 
of  religious  teachers  gathered  from  all  sects  and  faiths, 
and  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  commands  for  the 
service  the  greatest  ability  to  be  found  in  all,  and  the 
annual  catalogue  now  contains  the  names  of  boys  of  all 
countries  and  all  religions,  Christians  and  Jews,  Asiatics, 
Europeans,  South  Americans,  and  those  who  have  had 
their  birth  in  the  islands  of  the  sea,  and  already  it  has 
contributed  much  by  the  education  of  Japanese  and 
Chinese  to   the   modernization   of  those  ancient   lands. 


72  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

The  suggestion  of  such  a  result  in  my  time  would  have 
been  received  as  an  absolute  impossibility. 

Many  experiments  have  been  made  and  much  im- 
provement, undoubtedly,  has  been  accomplished  in  the 
last  seventy  years  in  methods  of  education,  but  after 
all  I  am  inclined  to  the  belief  that  these  varying  methods 
have  resulted  chiefly  in  the  better  development  of  the 
youth  of  inferior  and  average  capacity  and  ability,  and 
that  under  them  all  the  men  of  natural  superiority  of 
talents  and  faculty,  determined  to  get  an  education  and 
relying  chiefly  upon  their  own  efforts  for  this,  have  risen 
naturally  to  the  top,  and  subsequently  taken  their  lead 
in  the  life  of  their  time.  That  is  to  say,  take  the  ten  classes 
from  1846  to  1856,  and  they  can  furnish,  as  the  catalogue 
shows,  a  group  of  men  educated  at  Harvard  who  can 
compare  favorably  with  the  best  men  of  any  subsequent 
decade  in  the  history  of  the  university.  Let  me  mention 
a  few  in  this  older  decade  for  whom  I  would  challenge 
comparison  with  any  similar  number  in  any  later  period. 
There  were  Professors  Francis  James  Child,  George  Mar- 
tin Lane,  and  Charles  Eliot  Norton,  and  Senator  George 
Frisbie  Hoar,  of  the  class  of  '46;  William  C.  Endicott, 
of  '47;  Professor  Cook,  the  great  chemist,  and  Dean 
Hoffman,  of  '48;  my  brother,  Charles  Francis  Choate, 
first  scholar  in  the  class  of  '49,  and  his  classmate,  Horace 
Davis,  president  of  the  University  of  California;  James 
C.  Carter,  Thomas  Jefferson  Coolidge,  and  John  Noble, 
in  the  class  of  '50;  Professors  Dunbar,  Goodwin,  and 
Langdell,  of  '51;  my  brother,  William  Gardner  Choate, 
first  scholar  in  the  class  of  '52,  and  his  classmates  Judge 
Addison  Brown,  Doctor  David  Williams  Cheever,  Pro- 
fessor Gurney,  dean  and  fellow  of  the  university;  Pro- 
fessors James  Bradley  Thayer  and  William  Robert  Ware; 


HARVARD  COLLEGE  73 

Charles  William  Eliot,  and  Professors  Adams  Sherman 
Hill,  James  Mills  Peirce,  and  Justin  Winsor,  of  the  class 
of  '53 ;  Horace  Howard  Furness,  of  the  class  of  '54;  Theo- 
dore Lyman  and  Chief  Justice  James  Tyndale  Mitchell, 
of  the  class  of  '55 ;  and  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Governor 
George  D.  Robinson,  and  Judge  Jeremiah  Smith,  of  the 
class  of  '56.  Take  these  men  as  examples,  and  where  in 
any  subsequent  decade  can  you  find  an  equal  number 
to  excel  them,  or  perhaps  to  match  with  them  as  the 
fruit  of  varying  systems  of  training  and  education, 
allowing  always  for  the  immense  growth  in  the  num- 
bers of  the  classes  from  which  selection  might  be 
made? 

There  was  one  immense  advantage  which  the  boys  of 
our  time  at  Harvard  enjoyed  over  those  of  recent  years, 
the  classes  were  so  small  in  number  that  we  became  in- 
timately acquainted  with  each  other,  much  more  inti- 
mately than  at  any  subsequent  period  of  life  with  any 
similar  number  of  acquaintances,  understood  one  an- 
other's character  perfectly,  and  formed  the  closest  ties 
of  friendship  and  a  strong  class-feeling  that  continued 
unbroken  through  life;  while  now,  as  I  understand,  where 
the  classes  are  numbered  by  hundreds,  no  such  state  of 
things  is  possible,  and  very  few  members  of  any  class 
know  in  a  similar  way  the  whole  or  even  half  of  their 
associates.  Groups  and  cliques  of  friends  are  formed, 
but  there  is  no  genuine  class-feeling  in  which  all  unite 
as  in  the  old  days.  I  think,  too,  that  there  was  then  no 
such  distance  between  the  professors  and  the  students 
as  now  prevails.  We  came  to  know  them  well,  and  it 
was  quite  possible  for  any  professor  or  tutor  to  become 
acquainted  with  and  to  become  familiar  with  the  mental 
and  moral  qualities  of  the  members  of  each  division  of 


74  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

the  class,  for  in  almost  all  the  courses  the  class  was  divided 
alphabetically  into  two  divisions. 

No  friendships  of  after-life  begin  to  equal  in  ardor 
and  intensity  those  of  college  days,  and  no  names  ever 
become  so  familiar  as  those  of  the  associates  of  that  early 
period  of  life.  I  have  in  my  bedroom  the  photographs 
of  eighty-five  of  our  members,  all  but  three  of  the  entire 
number,  in  all  the  beauty  and  freshness  of  youth,  just 
as  they  appeared  on  Commencement  Day  in  1852,  when 
we  graduated  and  parted,  never  to  meet  again  in  full 
ranks.  The  costumes  of  that  day  seem  a  little  peculiar 
now,  for  we  all  wore  long  hair  and  high  collars  and  huge 
neck-handkerchiefs,  which  long  since  passed  out  of  fash- 
ion. I  often  put  myself  to  sleep  by  calling  the  roll  of 
my  classmates,  whose  names  are  as  familiar  now  as  then. 

In  our  freshman  year  all  the  studies  were  required, 
consisting  chiefly  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics, 
which  I  still  regard  as  of  extremely  great  value  in  the 
training  of  youthful  minds.  Our  study  of  the  languages 
was  in  the  main  limited  to  the  correct  construction  of 
the  Greek  and  the  Latin,  so  as  to  get  the  correct  and 
full  meaning  out  of  every  sentence,  and  to  do  that  neces- 
sarily required  great  concentration  and  accuracy  and 
perseverance,  traits  of  enormous  value  in  any  subsequent 
pursuits,  and  without  which  any  real  success  in  them  is 
hardly  possible,  but  we  were  sadly  lacking  in  any  intel- 
ligent study  of  the  glorious  history  and  literature  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  which  would  have  made  our  studies  so  much 
more  delightful.  Afterwards,  with  increasing  freedom 
from  year  to  year,  our  programme  of  studies  was  made 
more  and  .more  liberal,  and  the  elective  system  began 
to  show  its  effect,  although  not  nearly  so  much  as  in  later 
years,  for  still  many  subjects  were  required.    A  diligent 


HARVARD  COLLEGE  75 

student  was  kept  pretty  busy,  for  I  see  by  the  tabular 
view  of  our  exercises  during  the  year  1851-52  that  our 
recitations  began  at  eight  in  the  morning  and  continued 
with  more  or  less  interruptions  until  six  at  night,  and 
the  hour  of  morning  prayers  was  at  seven  o'clock  from 
September  to  April,  and  at  six  o'clock  from  the  first  Mon- 
day in  April  until  Commencement;  breakfast  was  im- 
mediately after  morning  prayers,  and  dinner  at  one  o'clock 
throughout  the  year. 

I  chose  for  my  special  studies  Latin  and  Greek  through- 
out my  college  course,  and  never  had  occasion  to  regret 
it,  for  the  same  mental  exercises  that  required  perfec- 
tion in  those  subjects  stood  me  well  in  hand  all  through 
the  rest  of  my  life  in  solving  problems  of  law  and  diplo- 
macy, or  anything  else  that  I  had  to  work  upon.  I  also 
found  that  committing  to  memory,  although  never  re- 
quired, was  of  infinite  value  as  a  mental  discipline,  and 
have  always  wondered  why  it  has  not  been  more  generally 
kept  up.  When  I  graduated  I  could  repeat  from  memory 
the  whole  of  the  first  book  of  Milton's  "Paradise  Lost," 
and  many  other  valuable  gems  of  English  literature, 
and  I  wish  that  I  had  continued  it  until  the  present  day, 
for  I  am  sure  that  such  a  habit  continued  through  a  long 
life  would  keep  the  mind  well  stored  with  the  most  precious 
passages  of  English  literature  of  all  times  and  of  every 
variety,  and  would  be  an  infinite  solace  and  satisfaction. 
But  I  gave  up  the  habit  when  I  left  college  and  became 
busy  in  what  seemed  at  that  time  to  be  more  important 
matters,  and  while  much  that  I  then  learned  in  that  way 
still  lingers  in  my  memory,  the  most  of  it  has  vanished, 
so  that  except  for  the  few  opening  sentences  of  "  Paradise 
Lost"  the  only  sentence  that  I  can  now  recall  is  the  one 
that  I  found  it  most  difficult  to  commit  to  memory  and 


76  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

fix  in  the  gray  matter  of  the  brain,  and  which  when  once 
lodged  there  has  never  escaped: 

"From  Aroer  to  Nebo,  and  the  wild 
Of  southmost  Abarim;  in  Hesebon 
And  Horonaim,  Seons  Realm,  beyond 
The  flowry  Dale  of  Sibma,  clad  with  vines. 
And  Eleale  to  the  Asphaltic  Pool." 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  until  Mr.  Lane  returned  from 
abroad  to  become  tutor  in  Latin  we  had  no  first-class 
teaching  in  either  that  or  Greek.  Too  much  of  our  work 
was  routine  work,  studying  the  texts  of  prescribed  volumes 
and  reciting  by  rote,  and  lectures  at  first  were  very  scarce, 
indeed.  I  remember  in  our  freshman  year  only  one  course 
of  three  lectures  by  Professor  John  Ware,  on  the  "Means 
of  Preserving  Health,"  which  were  very  wise  and  very 
good;  but  as  we  progressed  in  later  years  we  had  better 
luck,  and  by  the  time  we  came  to  be  juniors  and  seniors 
it  was  our  great  good  fortune  to  be  able  to  listen  to  lec- 
tures from  Professor  Channing  on  rhetoric,  Longfellow 
on  modern  literature,  Lovering  on  electricity,  Gray  on 
botany,  and,  above  all,  the  great  Agassiz  on  geology. 
From  all  these  we  really  felt  that  we  were  learning  a  great 
deal,  but  the  most  unique,  critical,  and  delightful  of  all 
the  professors  of  our  time  was  Professor  Edward  Tyler 
Channing,  who  was  Boylston  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and 
Oratory  from  1819  to  1851,  a  period  of  thirty-two  years, 
during  which,  as  I  believe,  he  did  more  to  form  what  I 
may  call  the  Harvard  style  of  speech  and  writing  than 
any  other  individual  influence.  One  of  the  greatest  joys 
of  life  was  to  attend  his  hours,  when  our  themes  and 
forensics,  for  which  he  had  given  us  subjects  two  weeks 


HARVARD  COLLEGE  77 

before,  were  before  him  for  examination  and  criticism. 
He  was  a  deadly  foe  of  all  splurging  and  extravagance 
of  expression,  and  to  all  obscurity  of  language,  and  his 
criticisms  were  as  piercing  and  caustic  as  they  were  de- 
lightful. Pruning  and  weeding  out  and  sarcastic  elimina- 
tion were  his  great  weapons,  and  if  the  Harvard  men  of 
that  time  were,  as  I  think  they  were  generally,  given  to 
clearness,  force,  and  earnestness,  he  is  very  chiefly  en- 
titled to  the  credit  of  it  all. 

Our  examinations  did  not  amount  to  much,  and  I  think 
never  did  until  long  after  we  left  college.  We  were  pretty 
carefully  examined  on  entering  to  test  our  qualifications 
for  admission,  but  never  after  that,  that  I  can  recall, 
were  we  subjected  to  any  serious  examination  or  to  any 
written  examinations  at  all.  Every  year  the  corporation 
appointed  a  board  of  examiners  in  each  of  the  subjects 
into  which  our  curriculum  was  divided.  They  were  gen- 
tlemen of  distinction  from  various  parts  of  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  and  I  think  none  from  any  other  part 
of  the  country.  They  were  not  specially  versed,  as  a 
rule,  in  the  subjects  on  which  they  were  appointed  exam- 
iners. On  the  day  appointed  for  examination  some  of 
them  would  appear  in  each  department  and  have  seats 
assigned  them  on  the  platform,  and  sit  in  silence  while 
the  professor  or  instructor  examined  us  on  something 
that  we  had  recently  learned.  I  do  not  remember  any 
one  of  them  ever  asking  any  question,  and,  of  course, 
it  was  not  difficult  to  receive  their  approval  and  even 
commendation,  and  it  never  required  any  examination 
to  get  out  of  college.  Everything  went  by  marks  in  those 
days,  the  accumulation  of  marks  through  the  four  years; 
eight,  I  believe,  being  the  highest  mark,  and  from  there 


78  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

graded  down  to  zero.  It  was  well  said  in  one  of  our  mock 
parts  that  the  Gospel  of  Mark  was  the  guide  to  the  scholar, 
and  the  declaration  of  Tom  Whitridge,  of  the  class  of 
'i8,  of  which  my  father  was  a  member,  that  if  it  had 
taken  as  severe  an  examination  to  get  out  of  college  as 
it  had  to  get  in,  he  would  have  laid  his  bones  there,  con- 
tinued traditional  and  true  down  to  our  time. 

We  got  absolutely  nothing  from  the  morning  and  eve- 
ning prayers.  They  served  merely  as  contrivances  for 
getting  the  boys  out  of  bed  in  the  morning  and  prevent- 
ing their  leaving  the  college  before  night.  The  prayer- 
makers  did  not  seem  to  take  much  more  interest  in  them 
than  the  boys  themselves,  although  it  was  sometimes 
difficult  for  them  to  stop  when  they  got  under  way,  and 
the  story  went  that  at  one  of  the  morning  prayers  the 
minister  delivered  himself  in  this  way:  "O  Lord,  we 
pray  thee  to  make  the  intemperate  temperate,  the  in- 
sincere sincere,  and  the  industrious  'dustrious."  So 
when  Phillips  Brooks  arose  in  his  might  and  insisted 
upon  abolishing  all  requirements,  it  must  have  been  a 
great  relief  to  the  college,  and  a  blessing  to  all  who  after- 
wards cared  to  attend,  as  they  did  in  great  numbers. 

On  the  whole,  my  four  years  at  Harvard,  from  1848 
to  1852,  were  the  best  and  happiest  period  of  my  life, 
as  I  believe  that  they  were  of  most  of  the  boys.  We  were 
blessed  with  all  the  spirits  of  youth,  with  no  responsibili- 
ties, no  cares,  and  with  only  the  inspiration  of  our  in- 
dividual ambition.  Upon  the  whole,  Harvard  College, 
with  its  delightful  memories  and  associations,  its  lofty 
and  well-maintained  standards,  and  its  ever-growing 
greatness  and  power,  has  been  the  best  and  most  whole- 
some influence  upon  my  life,  from  the  day  of  graduation, 


HARVARD  COLLEGE  79 

when  I  was  one  of  the  youngest  of  her  children,  until 
to-day,  when  I  stand  upon  the  catalogue  Number  14 
among  her  14,000  surviving  graduates,  and  to  receive 
the  approval  of  Harvard  men  throughout  the  world  has 
always  been  a  sufficient  satisfaction  and  reward. 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  BAR 

The  Law  School,  when  I  entered  it  in  1852,  was,  like 
each  of  the  other  departments  of  the  university,  a  com- 
paratively small  affair.  In  our  entering  class  there 
were  only  forty-seven,  and  the  other  two  classes  were  of 
smaller  numbers.  What  there  was  of  teaching  was  done 
by  two  professors,  and  a  university  lecturer,  Judge  Joel 
Parker,  who  had  been  chief  justice  of  New  Hampshire, 
and  Theophilus  Parsons,  who  had  been  a  very  successful 
lawyer  in  Boston,  and  was  the  son  of  the  chief  justice 
of  Massachusetts  of  the  same  name.  Judge  Parker,  the 
Royal  Professor  of  Law,  was  an  exceedingly  profound 
and  learned  lawyer.  He  was  so  erudite  and  profound 
that  we  of  the  lighter  minds  really  could  not  successfully 
follow  the  action  of  his,  although  men  of  sterner  faculties, 
like  Carter  and  Langdell  and  my  two  brothers,  got  very 
much  out  of  him;  but  to  me  the  great  light  of  the  Law 
School,  while  I  was  there,  was  Professor  Parsons,  a  lawyer 
of  much  smaller  caliber  and  lighter  vein,  but  who,  hav- 
ing had  great  experience  at  the  bar,  had  a  delightful 
way  of  giving  us  the  general  principles  of  law  in  a  manner 
that  made  a  lasting  impression  upon  our  minds,  and 
gave  me  many  points  that  I  remembered  and  made  use 
of  in  all  my  subsequent  career  at  the  bar.  The  university 
lecturer,  Judge  Loring,  probate  judge  in  Boston,  came 
out  for  three  or  four  lectures  a  week  on  such  subjects 
as  did  not  come  within  the  programme  of  the  two  pro- 
fessors.    The  only  course  of  his  that  I  can  remember 

attending  was  on  the  domestic  relations,  and  I  can  only 

80 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  BAR  81 

recall  that  he  was  an  exceedingly  conservative  man,  and 
a  good  deal  behind  the  age,  even  for  that  time.  The 
gist  of  his  discourse  upon  the  marital  relations  may  be 
judged  from  the  fact  of  his  saying  repeatedly  the  stereo- 
type utterance:  "The  husband  and  wife  are  one,  and 
that  one  is  the  husband."  The  standard  at  the  school 
was  very  low  at  that  time.  There  were  absolutely  no 
examinations  to  get  in,  or  to  proceed,  or  to  get  out.  AH 
that  was  required  was  the  lapse  of  time,  two  years,  and 
the  payment  of  the  fees,  and  not  to  have  got  into  any 
disgrace  while  in  the  school.  With  that  we  were  sure  of 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws  at  the  end  of  the  second 
year.  I  see  that  there  was  a  Committee  on  Visiting  the 
Law  School,  consisting  of  very  eminent  lawyers  and 
judges,  all  of  Massachusetts,  but  I  do  not  recall  their 
ever  visiting  the  school,  individually  or  collectively,  or 
exercising  any  of  the  powers  of  examiners.  Our  right 
to  the  degree  consisted  in  having  attended  more  or  less 
of  the  lectures  and  paid  our  fees,  as  I  have  said. 

Nevertheless,  we  did  learn  a  great  deal  of  law.  The 
library  for  the  time  was  exceedingly  good,  and  we  formed 
among  ourselves  law  clubs,  in  which  moot  courts  were 
held,  and  cases  tried  and  argued,  and  briefs  prepared 
and  submitted,  the  elder  members  acting  as  judges,  and 
once,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  there  was  a  mock  trial  in 
which  members  of  the  junior  class  of  the  college  were 
impanelled  as  jurors,  and  members  of  the  graduating 
class,  selected  for  the  purpose,  tried  the  case  before  them. 
And  what  was  more,  Boston  was  very  near,  where  the 
courts  were  constantly  in  session,  and  to  which  we  re- 
sorted freely  for  instruction  and  entertainment. 

It  was  while  at  the  Law  School  that  I  formed  a  more 
intimate  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Rufus  Choate,  then  at 


82  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

the  head  of  the  profession  in  Massachusetts,  and,  I 
should  say,  in  the  whole  country,  and  became  very  much 
interested  in  his  personality  and  in  his  methods.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  he  was  a  wonderful  orator,  but  be- 
sides that  he  was  one  of  the  most  fascinating  personali- 
ties that  I  had  ever  known.  To  hear  him  in  court  or 
on  the  platform  or  in  private  conversation  was  a  very 
great  treat,  and  he  was  one  of  the  most  affectionate  and 
warm-hearted  of  men.  In  my  last  year  in  the  Law  School 
he  invited  me  to  go  with  him  on  a  journey  to  the  White 
Mountains,  and,  of  course,  I  eagerly  accepted  the  rare 
opportunity,  and  in  those  three  days  I  learned  how  fast 
he  was  using  up  his  life  and  his  powers.  We  started  from 
his  house  in  Boston  very  early  on  Thursday  morning, 
and  got  back  there  very  late  on  Saturday  night.  We 
seemed  to  be  going  at  full  speed  all  the  time.  The  rail- 
roads at  that  date  had  not  opened  all  the  way  to  the 
Crawford  House,  or  from  there  through  the  mountains, 
but  we  took  special  wagons  from  the  railroad  terminus 
and  went  at  the  best  speed  that  could  be  made,  although 
he  seemed  to  be  very  much  afraid  of  horses.  I  remember 
that  when  we  got  to  the  Crawford  House,  late  at  night, 
it  was  very  cold  (and  he  was  always  oppressed  by  the 
cold),  but  when  we  entered  the  door  of  the  hotel  and  saw 
a  grand  fire  of  great  logs  burning  in  the  fireplace,  he 
warmed  up  at  once,  and  turning  to  me  he  said:  "Do 
you  remember  that  grand  verse  in  Isaiah:  'Aha,  I  am 
warm,  I  have  seen  the  fire'?"  The  mere  sight  of  the 
blazing  logs  seemed  to  penetrate  his  body  at  once.  Even 
for  that  short  journey  he  carried  a  trunkful  of  books, 
as  it  seemed  to  me,  in  Greek,  Latin,  and  English,  and 
although  there  was  not  much  time  to  read  as  we  travelled, 
I  have  an  impression  that  he  overhauled  them  during 


TRAINING   FOR  THE  BAR  83 

the  night  and  made  much  use  of  them.  His  conversation 
at  all  times  was  most  edifying  and  enjoyable,  full  of  ref- 
erences to  delightful  things  that  he  had  read  in  books,  and 
lighted  up  by  genuine  wit  and  humor,  but  he  really  made 
a  labor  of  the  journey  in  endeavoring  to  cover  such  con- 
siderable distances,  and  to  crowd  into  three  days  what 
might  well  have  taken  as  many  weeks  in  that  era  that 
knew  nothing  of  rapid  transit.  When  we  reached  Bos- 
ton and  got  back  to  his  house  he  said  to  me:  "Now, 
that  is  my  vacation  for  this  year."  It  was  at  this  rate 
that  he  had  worked  from  the  time  he  left  the  United 
States  Senate  in  1845,  an(^  tnat  ne  continued  to  work 
to  his  untimely  end  in  1859,  when  he  was  a  little  short 
of  sixty.  He  ought  to  have  lived  to  a  serene  old  age, 
but  he  literally  crowded  into  his  sixty  years  the  work 
of,  at  least,  eighty,  winning  great  renown,  giving  vast 
delight  to  the  men  and  women  of  his  own  time,  and  leav- 
ing such  an  impress  upon  the  age  that  succeeded  him 
that,  as  Mr.  Dana  well  said,  the  lawyers  of  America, 
when  they  met  for  mutual  conversation  and  entertain- 
ment, found  that  they  could  do  better  by  reminiscences 
of  Rufus  Choate  than  by  anything  that  they  could  them- 
selves present. 

It  was  during  my  time  in  college  and  at  the  Law  School 
that  the  trial  of  the  famous  fugitive  slave  cases  took 
place  in  Boston,  upon  which  the  eager  attention  of  the 
whole  nation  was  turned.  The  general  feeling  of  the 
collegians  and  the  members  of  the  Law  School  tended 
to  be  very  conservative,  for  we  had  been  brought  up, 
you  may  say,  at  the  feet  of  Daniel  Webster,  who  was 
chiefly  responsible  for  the  compromise  measures  of  1850, 
including  the  fugitive  slave  law,  which  professed  to  be 
properly  devised  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  Con- 


84  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

stitution  of  the  United  States,  requiring  the  return  from 
one  State  to  another  of  persons  held  to  service  or  labor. 
I  do  not  think  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  extreme 
abolitionists,  such  as  William  Lloyd  Garrison  and  Wendell 
Phillips,  there  was  much  dispute  as  to  the  necessity  of 
a  proper  law  for  that  purpose,  if  we  intended  to  stand 
by  the  Constitution,  but  there  was  great  ground  for  con- 
tention on  the  subject  of  the  method  of  bringing  about 
the  return  of  fugitive  slaves.  AH  that  the  Constitution 
said  was  that  they  should  be  delivered  up,  and  it  was 
well  maintained  by  trie  opponents  of  the  law  of  1850 
that  that  did  not  dispense  with  the  usual  safeguards 
and  guarantees  of  personal  freedom,  and  that,  instead 
of  being  tried  before  a  single  commissioner,  the  fugitives 
were  entitled  to  a  trial  by  jury,  as  I  think  they  certainly 
were.  But  the  statute  had  made  no  such  provision,  and 
so  a  small  number  of  fugitives  were  surrendered  and 
carried  back  by  force  to  their  original  masters  in  the 
South.  These  few  in  number,  however,  had  a  very  great 
effect  in  arousing  the  popular  indignation,  and  were  a 
very  important  factor  in  bringing  about  in  a  few  years 
the  overthrow  of  the  whole  system  of  slavery  under  the 
wise  administration  of  Lincoln. 

During  my  two  years  at  the  Law  School  I  earned,  for 
the  first  time,  my  own  living  by  preparing  boys  for  en- 
trance to  Harvard,  which  consumed  about  two  hours  of 
each  day,  and  in  which  I  found  great  benefit  in  reviving 
and  keeping  alive  my  knowledge  of  the  classics,  and  I 
discovered  that  in  teaching  one  learned  more  than  he 
knew  before. 

After  leaving  the  Law  School,  as  a  third  year  was  re- 
quired and  an  examination  before  admission  to  the  bar, 
I  was  privileged  to  enter  the  office  of  Hodges  and  Salton- 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  BAR  85 

stall,  in  Boston,  and  spent  a  year  at  my  father's  home 
at  Salem,  going  up  every  day  for  the  purpose  by  train. 
Business  was  not  then  so  driving  among  lawyers  as  it 
afterwards  became,  and  a  very  considerable  portion  of 
my  time  during  that  year  was  spent  in  attending  the 
courts,  where  I  learned  more  than  I  had  learned  any- 
where else  as  to  the  trial  and  argument  of  cases.  There 
was  almost  always  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year 
some  important  trial  going  on,  and  in  this  trial  two  or 
three  leaders  were  always  engaged.  These  were  Rufus 
Choate,  Sidney  Bartlett,  and  Charles  G.  Loring.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  the  trials  in  the  Supreme  Court  were 
conducted  with  the  greatest  dignity  and  decorum,  and 
nothing  could  be  more  instructive  to  a  student  of  the 
law  than  to  sit  in  the  presence  of  such  a  tribunal  and 
listen  to  the  trial  and  argument  of  cases  by  three  such 
eminent  men.  They  were  nearly  the  same  age,  but  their 
styles  were  very  different. 

Mr.  Choate's  exuberant  eloquence,  with  a  mind  richly 
stored  with  a  vast  wealth  of  reading  and  knowledge, 
and  an  unbounded  human  sympathy,  made  him,  I  think, 
the  greatest  advocate  that  America  has  ever  known. 
In  the  argument  of  questions  of  law  he  was  a  very  close 
reasoner,  with  a  rich  gift  of  illustration,  so  that  it  was 
almost  impossible  for  him  to  lose  a  case  that  could  by 
any  possibility  have  been  won;  but  it  was  his  fascinating 
personality  that  carried  all  before  him  with  the  jury. 
He  never  overlooked  a  fact  or  an  incident  that  could  by 
any  possibility  aid  his  side  of  the  case,  and  would  form 
a  theory  upon  the  facts  presented  which  would  com- 
mend itself  to  his  conscience  and  judgment,  and  win, 
if  it  was  possible  to  win,  the  approval  of  the  jury.  His 
patience,  tenacity  of  purpose,  and  exceeding  good  humor 


86  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

would  carry  the  day  over  any  ordinary  adversary.  He 
would  not  only  address  the  jury  as  a  whole  body,  but 
would  fasten  upon  each  individual  juryman  in  turn,  of 
whose  sympathy  he  was  not  already  sure,  and  stick  to 
him  until  he  had  mastered  him,  so  that  I  have  no  doubt 
he  occasionally  won  a  verdict  which  any  other  man  wouI< 
have  lost,  and  which,  perhaps,  he  ought  to  have  lost,  al- 
though from  a  long  experience  in  jury  trials  I  am  satisfiec 
that  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  the  jury  decide  right  upon 
the  evidence,  whoever  tries  the  case. 

Mr.  Bartlett  was  as  unlike  Mr.  Choate  as  one  man 
could  possibly  differ  from  another.  Cold  and  sharp, 
and  glittering  as  steel,  he  would  push  aside  all  that  the 
fancy  and  imagination  of  his  adversary  had  brought 
into  the  case,  and  hold  the  courts  to  the  main  point,  and 
the  jury  to  one  or  two  cardinal  facts,  which  would  com- 
pel them,  if  the  case  made  it  possible,  to  find  a  verdict 
for  his  side.  He  was  very  learned,  too,  but  had  never, 
I  believe,  been  such  a  student  as  his  more  celebrated 
adversary,  and  he  had  the  rare  advantage  (I  say  rare 
to  a  great  lawyer)  of  extraordinary  business  experience 
and  faculties,  and  an  extreme  common  sense,  which, 
after  all,  is  the  thing  which  ought  to  govern  both  courts 
and  juries.  With  a  vast  business  always  on  hand,  he 
never  wore  himself  out  by  travelling  on  his  nerves,  to 
die  at  fifty-nine,  as  his  chief  opponent  did,  but  lived  a 
long,  useful,  and  happy  life  in  the  very  front  rank  of 
the  profession,  and  after  arguing  an  important  case  in 
the  Supreme  Court  at  Washington  at  the  age  of  ninety, 
went  home  and  died  of  old  age. 

Mr.  Loring  was  wholly  unlike  either  of  the  other  two 
great  protagonists  at  the  Boston  bar.  He  commanded 
the  confidence  of  the  whole  community  by  his  great  weight 


RUFUS  CHOATE  (1799-1859). 


TRAINING   FOR  THE   BAR  87 

of  character.  He,  also,  had  great  business  ability  and 
experience,  and  was  always  master  of  his  case,  so  that 
when  he  spoke  to  court  or  juries  they  not  only  believed 
every  word  he  said,  but  received  it  with  open  minds, 
ready  to  be  convinced.  There  was  never  any  nonsense 
about  him.  Indeed,  there  was  a  total  want  of  the  sense 
of  humor,  and  he  proved  always  to  be  a  most  formidable 
antagonist. 

No  theatre  that  I  have  ever  attended  offered  so  great 
an  intellectual  treat  as  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  these  three 
great  masters  of  the  law,  and  listen  to  them  from  begin- 
ning to  end  of  a  great  argument  or  trial.  It  is  a  wonder- 
ful thing  for  a  law  school  to  be  in  close  proximity  to  a 
great  city,  where  the  students  can  see  and  hear  justice 
administered  according  to  the  highest  and  best  standards, 
in  courts  presided  over  by  learned  judges,  appointed  for 
life  by  the  chief  executive,  as  up  to  this  day  has  been 
the  case  in  Massachusetts,  and  has  secured  for  the  people 
of  that  State,  at  any  rate,  a  government  of  laws  and  not 
of  men. 

The  office  of  Hodges  and  Saltonstall,  in  which  I  spent 
a  year  from  October,  1854,  to  October,  1855,  was  a  most 
agreeable  one.  Mr.  Hodges  was  highly  skilled  in  all  the 
departments  of  the  law,  but  was  at  that  time  somewhat 
out  of  health,  so  that  we  did  not  see  him  constantly,  but 
Leverett  Saltonstall  was  one  of  the  most  charming,  honor- 
able, and  high-toned  men  that  I  have  ever  known.  He 
was  justly  proud  of  his  most  distinguished  ancestry, 
running  far  back  to  colonial  days,  and  first  represented 
on  the  Harvard  College  catalogue  by  Doctor  Henry  Sal- 
tonstall in  the  first  class  of  1642,  who  received  his  medical 
degree  at  Padua  in  1649,  and  became  a  Fellow  of  New 
College,  Oxford,  in  1650.     He  was  of  a  high-strung  and 


88  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

nervous  temperament,  which  made  the  trial  of  causes 
(in  which,  if  he  had  continued  in  them,  he  would  have 
had  great  success)  a  very  severe  strain  upon  him,  al- 
though then  he  was  very  young  at  the  bar,  but  it  was  a 
great  privilege  to  be  associated  and  in  daily  contact  with 
him,  and  I  have  always  looked  back  upon  that  year's 
experience  with  him  with  the  greatest  satisfaction. 

It  was  while  with  him  that  I  had  my  first  case  and 
earned  my  first  fee,  which  has  always  afforded  me  great 
pleasure  to  recall.  We  were  sitting  in  the  office  together, 
one  cold  winter's  day,  when  two  rugged  farmers  from 
Vermont  came  in  with  a  case,  which  they  briefly  stated 
to  Saltonstall.  They  had  each  had  a  car-load  of  potatoes 
come  down  by  railroad  from  Vermont,  and  they  were 
found  to  be  completely  frozen  on  arrival,  and  the  farmers 
had  brought  an  action  against  the  railroad  company  for 
the  value  of  the  potatoes  so  destroyed.  The  question 
was  whether  it  was  by  the  act  of  God  or  by  the  negligence 
of  the  railroad  company  that  they  had  been  frozen.  Cer- 
tainly the  act  of  God  was  the  immediate  cause  in  creating 
or  permitting  the  extreme  frost,  but  behind  that  was 
the  negligence  of  the  railroad  company,  which  should 
have  protected  the  potatoes  more  perfectly.  It  was 
rather  a  small  affair,  and  Mr.  Saltonstall  hardly  thought 
the  case  was  up  to  his  personal  position  and  rank  at  the 
bar,  but  he  turned  them  over  to  me,  saying:  "Here  is 
Choate.  Perhaps  he  will  take  it."  As  I  had  never  had 
a  case  I  was  very  glad  to  do  so.  It  seemed  that  the  evi- 
dence was  to  be  taken  before  a  commissioner  in  Boston 
on  the  second  day  after,  which  would  give  an  intervening 
day  for  preparation,  and  I  very  gladly  undertook  the 
job.     It  so  happened  that  Mr.  Rufus  Choate  at  that 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  BAR  89 

time  was  laid  up  with  a  lame  knee,  but  was  driving  out 
every  day,  and  on  the  following  day  he  happened  to  call 
at  the  office  for  me  to  drive  with  him  through  Brookline, 
and  so  we  spent  an  hour  together  and  I  told  him  about 
my  first  case.  He  was  very  much  delighted  at  the  idea, 
and  gave  me  quite  a  lot  of  advice  about  cross-examination 
of  witnesses,  in  which  he  was  a  wonderful  adept,  so  that 
I  went  the  next  day  with  the  two  farmers  before  the  com- 
missioner and  spent  the  whole  day  in  taking  the  evi- 
dence, which  I  thought  would  enable  them  to  establish 
successfully  the  proposition  before  a  country  jury,  at 
any  rate,  that  the  loss  of  the  potatoes  was  wholly  due 
to  the  negligence  of  the  railroad  company,  and  that  the 
act  of  God  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  On  our  return  to 
the  office  the  farmers  raised  the  question  of  my  fee — 
what  it  would  be.  Well,  I  had  never  had  a  fee,  and  I 
had  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  value  of  my  services, 
which  I  thought  were  considerable,  and  I  said  to  them: 
"Well,  it  has  taken  all  day.  It  seems  to  be  a  matter  of 
some  importance  to  you.  I  wish  to  be  entirely  reason- 
able, and  I  should  think  that  three  dollars  would  be  about 
right." 

"Well,"  they  said,  "we  talked  that  matter  over  on 
the  way  down  from  Vermont,  and  we  kinder  thought 
that  there  were  two  cases,  two  car-loads  of  potatoes,  and 
that  a  dollar  a  case,  a  dollar  a  load,  would  be  about  right." 
Not  wishing  to  have  a  contest  over  my  first  fee,  I  gladly 
accepted  it,  and  they  handed  me  two  of  the  little  gold 
dollars  that  were  current  at  that  time.  One  of  them  I 
gave  to  my  friend  and  classmate,  Darwin  Erastus  Ware, 
who,  like  myself,  had  never  had  a  fee,  and  I  must  have 
spent  the  other,  but  the  romance  of  it  was  that  forty- 


9o  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

five  years  afterwards,  after  Ware  had  died,  his  widow, 
looking  over  his  papers,  found  something  wrapped  up 
in  paper,  and  marked  on  the  outside,  "Half  of  Joe 
Choate's  first  fee,"  which  she  very  kindly  sent  to  my 
daughter,  who  has  since  worn  it  as  a  charm  upon  her 
watch-guard.  But  this,  my  first  experience  in  fees,  taught 
me  to  be  forever  after  very  moderate  in  all  that  matter. 

After  going  through  with  the  usual  examination  for 
admission  I  was  enrolled  in  the  Massachusetts  bar  in 
October,  1855,  an(*  although  I  have  never  practised  in 
that  State,  I  have  always  regarded  it  as  a  great  privilege 
from  that  day  to  this  to  have  been  a  member  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts bar. 

Having  got  ready  for  the  practice  of  my  profession 
and,  as  I  supposed,  being  qualified  to  undertake  any 
service  in  it,  however  intricate  and  difficult — a  young 
lawyer  is  never  so  good  as  those  just  admitted  to  the 
bar  imagine  themselves  to  be — William  and  I  concluded 
that  before  determining  where  to  settle  we  should  make 
a  tour  of  the  Western  country  to  see  what  the  prospects 
of  young  professional  men  were  in  the  various  cities  of 
the  West.  The  extreme  West  then  occupied,  was  bounded 
by  the  Mississippi  River,  for  when  we  got  to  Davenport, 
in  Iowa,  the  railroad  went  no  farther;  but  Cook  and  Sar- 
gent, the  bankers  there  to  whom  we  had  letters,  kindly 
said  that  they  were  building  a  new  road  beyond  the  river, 
which  already  had  reached  Cedar  Rapids,  and  they  were 
running  construction  trains  on  it,  and  that  they  would 
give  us  a  ride  on  one  of  these  so  that  we  could  say  that 
we  had  reached  the  farthest  possible  point  West,  which 
we  gladly  accepted.  We  did  visit  many  of  the  principal 
cities,  but  to  our  primitive  minds,  accustomed  only  to 


TRAINING   FOR  THE  BAR  91 

the  comparatively  finished  East,  everything  seemed 
very  crude  and  rough,  and  we  found  that  either  we  were 
not  ready  for  the  West,  or  the  West  was  not  ready  for 
us,  although  I  am  satisfied  that,  if  we  had  concluded  to 
remain  anywhere  in  that  region,  we  should  have  soon 
got  used  to  it  and,  growing  up  with  some  young  com- 
munity, would  have  attained  similar  positions  to  those 
which  we  afterwards  reached  nearer  home. 

Chicago,  I  remember,  seemed  to  us  to  be  a  very  un- 
satisfactory place.  It  had  ceased  to  be  the  "dirty  little 
dog-hole,"  which  Judge  Parker  had  described  it  to  us 
at  the  Law  School  to  have  been,  when  he  first  reached 
it  some  twenty  or  thirty  years  before.  It  had  all  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  great  city  yet  to  be,  but  it  was  still  in  its 
infancy.  I  remember  that  the  sidewalks  were  of  plank, 
and  sometimes  as  we  walked  upon  them  the  m^uddy  water 
spurted  up  between  the  planks. 

We  were  not  attracted  by  the  methods  of  the  courts 
and  bar  in  the  cities  which  we  visited.  At  one  then 
frontier  town  we  heard  that  the  supreme  court  was  in 
session,  and,  as  our  wont  was,  made  haste  to  visit  it. 
The  administration  of  justice  seemed  to  be  going  on  all 
right.  The  jury  were  in  their  places,  the  witness  on  the 
stand  was  being  examined  or  cross-examined  by  the 
lawyer,  and  the  bar  was  reasonably  full  with  something 
of  an  audience  on  the  outer  circle  of  the  court-room,  but 
there  did  not  appear  to  be  any  judge.  A  close  inspection, 
however,  soon  revealed  the  soles  of  a  pair  of  slippers  on 
the  bench,  and  the  judge  was  reclining  behind  them, 
doubtless  taking  in  all  the  evidence  and  conducting 
the  case  with  the  same  authority,  but  with  much  less 
dignity  than  we  had  been  accustomed  to  see  in  the  courts 


92  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

of  Massachusetts,  especially  in  Boston;  and  so  we  very 
easily  made  up  our  minds  to  seek  our  fortunes  nearer 
home,  William,  who  was  much  more  of  a  home-body 
than  I,  to  return  to  Salem. 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK 

I  had  long  been  fascinated  with  the  idea  of  life  in  New 
York,  and  was  convinced  that  the  biggest  place  offered 
the  best  possible  chance  for  a  young  lawyer.  I  had  been 
there  once  before,  in  1851,  on  a  visit,  and  I  remember 
that  the  trains  from  Boston  on  that  occasion  stopped 
at  Forty-second  Street,  and  individual  cars  were  dragged 
by  horses  from  there  down  to  Canal  Street,  and  discharged 
their  passengers  who  were  going  farther.  I  knew  almost 
nobody  in  the  great  city.  A  graduate  of  the  Harvard 
Law  School  nowadays  coming  to  New  York  would  find 
thousands  of  New  Englanders  here,  and  among  them 
hundreds  of  his  personal  acquaintances,  but  at  that  time 
it  was  a  comparatively  rare  thing  for  emigrants  from 
New  England  to  settle  here,  especially  educated  men, 
and  I  do  not  think  that  there  were  more  than  twenty- 
five  Harvard  graduates  then  residing  in  this  city.  I 
brought  with  me  one  letter  of  introduction,  however, 
which  proved  to  be  an  opening  wedge  for  my  professional 
career.  It  was  from  Rufus  Choate,  who  took  quite  an 
interest  in  my  fortunes,  and  addressed  to  Mr.  William 
M.  Evarts,  and  read  as  follows: 

"Boston,  24  Sept.  1855. 
"My  dear  Mr.  Evarts 

"I  beg  to  incur  one  other  obligation  to  you  by  intro- 
ducing the  bearer  my  friend  and  kinsman  to  your  kind- 
ness. 

"He  is  just  admitted  to  our  bar,  was  graduated  at 

93 


94  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

Cambridge  with  a  very  high  reputation  for  scholarship 
and  all  worth,  and  comes  to  the  practice  of  the  law,  I 
think,  with  extraordinary  promise.  He  has  decided  to 
enroll  himself  among  the  brave  and  magnanimous  of 
your  bar,  with  a  courage  not  unwarranted  by  his  talents, 
character,  ambition  and  power  of  labor.  There  is  no 
young  man  whom  I  love  better,  or  from  whom  I  hope 
more  or  as  much,  and  if  you  can  do  anything  to  smooth 
the  way  to  his  first  steps  the  kindness  will  be  most  season- 
able and  will  yield  all  sorts  of  good  fruits. 
Most  truly 

Your  servant  and  friend 

Rufus  Choate." 

This,  certainly,  was  a  very  emphatic  letter  and  mani- 
fested wonderful  confidence  and  affection  on  the  part 
of  the  writer,  and  I  had  to  do  my  best  to  live  up  to  it 
in  all  the  after-years. 

Mr.  Evarts  had  not  at  that  time  attained  the  zenith 
of  his  great  fame,  for  he  was  then  only  thirty-seven  years 
old,  but  he  and  his  firm  of  Butler,  Evarts  and  South- 
mayd  were  already  in  the  front  rank  of  the  profession, 
and,  perhaps,  the  busiest  office  in  New  York,  with  a  re- 
markable clientage.  He  rose  very  rapidly  to  the  leader- 
ship of  the  American  bar,  and  was  engaged  in  all  the 
greatest  causes  of  his  time,  before  entering  public  life 
and  holding  the  great  offices  of  attorney-general,  secre- 
tary of  state,  and  senator.  He  received  me  very  warmly, 
but  it  was  several  months  before  he  could  make  a  place 
for  me  in  his  office.  During  this  time  I  had  quite  an 
opportunity  to  study  New  York  and  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  habits  of  life  there,  which  were  so  different  from 
the  New  England  ways,  and  in  the  meantime,  in  the 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  95 

offices  of  my  classmates,  Waring  and  Norris,  and  of  James 
Carter,  I  was  studying  up  the  code  and  learning  some- 
thing about  practice. 

New  York  was  a  very  different  city  from  what  it  is 
to-day.  Instead  of  being  Greater  New  York,  with  what 
the  papers  to-day  say  to  be  a  population  of  five  and  a 
half  millions,  it  was  simply  the  Island  of  Manhattan, 
with  a  population  of  five  hundred  thousand  only,  and 
Brooklyn  and  the  other  boroughs,  instead  of  being  ac- 
cessible by  tubes  in  a  few  minutes,  seemed  almost  as 
far  away  as  Boston.  There  was  no  congestion  and  no 
rush  anywhere.  I  remember  that  shortly  afterwards, 
when  the  Sixth  Avenue  railroad  with  its  horse-cars  was 
opened  as  far  as  Forty-second  Street,  which  was  then 
the  upper  limit  of  the  city,  it  was  thought  that  the  final 
achievement  of  rapid  transit  had  been  reached.  You 
could  get  into  their  cars  at  the  Astor  House  and  reach 
Forty-second  Street  in  forty  minutes,  which  was  thought 
to  be  wonderful. 

My  father  said  to  me,  when  I  left  home,  "I  suppose 
that  you  will  want  some  money/ '  and  kindly  offered  to 
furnish  me  with  what  I  needed,  and  measuring  the  prob- 
able cost  by  the  standard  that  I  had  known  in  Salem 
and  Cambridge,  and  not  realizing  that  New  York  even 
then  was  a  more  expensive  place,  I  said  to  him  that  I 
thought  that  forty  dollars  a  month  would  be  ample,  which 
I  duly  received.  I  found  it  a  very  close  cut,  but  was 
too  proud  to  ask  for  more,  so  I  found  a  boarding-place 
in  which  my  classmate,  Addison  Brown,  was  already 
established,  at  the  corner  of  Bleecker  Street  and  Thom- 
son Street,  which  had  previously  been  the  residence  of 
General  Scott.  After  he  left  it  several  stories  had  been 
added,  and  one  or  two  adjoining  houses  taken  in,  so  that 


96  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

it  was  quite  a  caravansary.  I  took  a  room  on  the  fourth 
floor,  for  which  I  had  to  pay  five  dollars  a  week,  for  board 
and  room.  The  room  was  so  small,  however,  that  when 
I  invited  anybody  to  come  in  I  had  to  stand  on  the  out- 
side, so  I  soon  ventured  upon  a  larger  room  on  the  top 
floor  at  five  dollars  and  a  half  a  week  for  room  and  board, 
and  made  myself  very  comfortable,  and  the  walk  morn- 
ing and  evening  from  Bleecker  to  Wall  Street  gave  me 
just  a  comfortable  amount  of  exercise. 

The  social  world  of  the  city  began  to  open  to  me  in 
various  directions,  although  in  all  it  was  very  simple 
and  unpretentious.  My  earliest  acquaintances  were 
with  the  Quakers,  whose  welcome  was  exceedingly  cor- 
dial, and  I  have  cherished  the  recollection  of  it  at  a  very 
high  value  from  that  day  to  this.  The  Gibbonses,  the 
Hoppers,  and  the  Haydocks  were  very  remarkable  and 
interesting  people. 

Mrs.  Abby  Hopper  Gibbons  was  a  wonderful  woman 
with  a  heart  as  strong  and  warm  as  her  head  was  clear. 
She  was  engaged  in  many  charities,  and  exerted  a  wide 
and  very  powerful  influence  in  the  city;  and  her  brother, 
John  Hopper  (they  were  children  of  the  famous  Quaker, 
Isaac  T.  Hopper),  was  a  miracle  of  fun  and  drollery,  and 
at  the  same  time  a  marvel  of  devoted  loyalty  and  affec- 
tion, and  he  did  a  vast  deal  to  make  my  early  days  in 
New  York  extremely  enjoyable.  He  was  a  lawyer,  be- 
sides being  the  agent  of  the  New  England  Life  Insurance 
Company,  and  was  the  soul  of  hospitality.  He  was  noted 
for  his  wit  and  sprightliness,  from  boyhood  in  Philadel- 
phia and  all  his  life  in  New  York. 

Philadelphia  must  have  been  a  very  quiet  place  at 
that  time,  for  after  his  father  had  moved  to  New  York, 
when  he  was  about  twelve  years  old,  complaint  was  made 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  97 

to  the  mayor  of  the  city  by  two  venerable  spinsters,  sis- 
ters who  dwelt  together  in  one  of  the  Philadelphia  houses, 
that  mysterious  visitations  were  being  made  to  them  at 
night,  which  they  could  not  possibly  account  for.  It 
seems  that  knowing  all  about  them,  on  a  return  to  the 
city  of  Brotherly  Love,  he  had  carefully  watched  their 
habits  and  discovered  at  just  about  what  time  they  were 
going  to  bed,  and  as  their  light  was  put  out  the  window- 
sash  of  the  room  in  which  they  slept  together  was  raised 
by  no  visible  hands,  to  their  very  great  terror.  When 
this  had  happened  for  three  nights  in  succession  they 
could  stand  it  no  longer  and  complained  to  the  chief 
magistrate,  v/ho  replied:  "Oh,  ladies,  you  must  not  be 
frightened.  I  think  John  Hopper  must  have  returned 
to  town." 

I  remember  that  Carter,  Thayer,  and  I  used  to  as- 
semble at  his  house  very  often  on  Saturday  nights,  where 
he  treated  us  most  royally.  His  wife  was  a  woman  of 
great  beauty  and  of  splendid  character,  who  would  have 
graced  any  station  in  life.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam Henry  de  Wolf,  one  of  the  famous  family  of  that 
name  at  Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  and  the  young  couple 
had  made  a  runaway  match.  The  indignant  father  had 
pursued  them,  but  overtook  them  too  late  to  prevent 
the  marriage,  and  contented  himself  with  dealing  John 
a  violent  blow;  but  John  survived  that,  and  lived  to 
take  into  his  own  house  his  father-in-law  with  his  wife 
and  invalid  daughter,  and  Mr.  de  Wolf  finally  died  in 
his  arms.  They  had  been  for  twelve  years  without  chil- 
dren, when,  to  the  surprise  and  delight  of  everybody 
who  knew  them,  a  fine  son  appeared  in  the  person  of 
De  Wolf  Hopper,  now  such  a  distinguished  comedian, 
well  known  throughout  the  United  States.     John  was 


98  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

so  wild  with  joy  at  the  idea  of  being  a  father  that  he  could 
hardly  contain  himself,  and  when  the  boy  was  about  a 
week  old  one  summer  morning,  finding  him  lying  naked 
on  the  bed,  just  as  his  nurse  had  given  him  his  bath,  and 
wishing  the  whole  world  to  participate  in  his  happiness, 
he  took  him  by  the  leg  and  held  him  out  of  the  window. 
Until  the  boy  grew  old  enough  to  run  about  for  himself 
he  used  to  carry  him  all  over  the  city  every  fine  day, 
making  a  seat  for  him  upon  his  cane  with  the  crook  of 
his  elbow,  and  in  that  way  they  wandered  from  Forty- 
second  Street  to  the  Battery  almost  daily.  One  day  he 
came  near  losing  the  boy,  for,  entering  Madison  Square 
with  him  on  his  arm  (a  square  which  at  that  time  was 
very  greatly  given  up  to  nurses  and  children),  he  went 
about  among  them,  exclaiming:  "See  what  a  fine  boy  I 
have  found.  Who's  lost  a  boy?"  Oddly  enough,  there 
was  a  woman  there  who  had  recently  lost  a  baby,  and 
was  crazy  from  the  effects  of  her  affliction,  and  hearing 
this  outcry  she  seized  the  baby  and  claimed  it  for  her 
own,  and  John  had  great  difficulty  with  the  aid  of  police 
in  rescuing  himself  and  the  child  from  her  attack.  As 
the  boy  grew  up  he  thought  of  nothing  but  life  upon 
the  stage,  and  I  have  always  thought  that  all  of  his  comic 
faculty  came  to  him  by  heredity  from  his  father. 

In  fact,  his  father  had  always  been  a  devotee  of  the 
theatre  in  spite  of  his  Quaker  surroundings.  When  the 
celebrated  Fanny  Kemble  made  her  first  appearance  in 
New  York  he  became  very  much  fascinated  by  her,  and 
was  a  constant  attendant  upon  her  performances.  He 
would  exchange  his  shadbelly  Quaker  coat  for  a  world's 
people  jacket  at  the  shop  of  an  apothecary,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  theatre,  and  buy  a  ticket  to  the  shilling 
gallery.    One  night  his  father  on  his  return  home  caught 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  99 

him  going  up-stairs  at  midnight,  shoes  in  hand,  and  took 
him  to  task,  and  the  following  colloquy  took  place: 
"John,  where  has  thee  been?"  Now  John  was  always 
truthful;  under  every  circumstance  you  could  depend 
upon  his  telling  the  truth,  so  he  said:  "To  the  theatre, 
father."  The  old  gentleman  was  very  much  shocked. 
"What  theatre  was  it,  and  whom  did  thee  see?"  John 
gave  the  name  of  the  theatre  and  the  name  of  the  famous 
actress,  which  disgusted  his  father  still  further,  and  he 
exclaimed:  "John,  I  hope  this  is  the  first  time  thee  has 
been  to  see  her."  And  John  replied:  "No,  father.  It 
is  the  sixty-third  time."  The  old  gentleman  was  so  over- 
whelmed that  he  took  to  his  bed  again  and  inflicted  no 
chastisement. 

Nothing  could  be  more  simple  and  almost  idyllic  than 
the  life  that  these  Quakers  led,  and  the  house  of  Mrs. 
Gibbons  was  a  great  resort  of  abolitionists  and  extreme 
antislavery  people  from  all  parts  of  the  land,  as  it  was 
one  of  the  stations  of  the  underground  railroad  by  which 
fugitive  slaves  found  their  way  from  the  South  to  Canada. 
I  have  dined  with  that  family  in  company  with  William 
Lloyd  Garrison,  and  sitting  at  the  table  with  us  was  a 
jet-black  negro  who  was  on  his  way  to  freedom.  The 
Haydocks,  too,  were  splendid  people,  and  were  the  pro- 
genitors of  the  Hallowells,  who  have  since  held  such  a 
distinguished  place  in  Boston.  Lucretia  Mott,  the  cele- 
brated female  preacher  of  that  day,  was  also  a  frequent 
guest,  and  I  have  been  to  hear  her  preach  at  the  Quaker 
meeting-house,  which  still  stands  in  East  Fifteenth 
Street. 

But  I  was  not  confined  to  Quakerdom,  for  I  rapidly 
met  many  delightful  acquaintances  in  the  city.  At  the 
houses  of  the  leaders  of  the  bar,  like  Daniel  Lord,  and 


ioo  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

Mr.  Evarts,  and  others,  I  found  warm  friends,  and  I 
remember  at  a  reception  at  Mr.  Lord's  being  introduced 
to  ex-President  Martin  Van  Buren  and  his  attorney- 
general,  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  who  both  died  within  a 
few  months  afterwards.  The  families  of  Hamilton  Fish, 
and  Mrs.  Fish's  sister,  Mrs.  Griffin,  and  George  L.  Schuy- 
ler, and  John  Jay,  and  Daniel  Leroy  were  among  my 
earliest  friends  in  New  York. 

At  the  house  of  Mr.  Jay,  at  Bedford,  I  always  found 
a  most  cordial  welcome  from  him  and  his  delightful  family. 
He  retained  unchanged  the  residence  of  his  grandfather, 
the  first  chief  justice  of  the  United  States,  whose  name 
he  bore,  and  there  many  fascinating  historical  reminis- 
cences were  recalled  by  him.  The  grandson,  John  Jay, 
was  in  all  respects  as  high-toned  and  patriotic  as  his 
grandfather,  and  delighted  in  nothing  so  much  as  in  public 
service.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Union  League 
Club,  and  intensely  interested  in  all  measures  of  reform 
that  came  up  at  that  exciting  period,  which  led  to  the 
club's  formation,  and  his  public  services  afterwards  as 
minister  to  Austria  were  of  great  value. 

Gouverneur  Morris  was  an  eccentric  character,  but  a 
man  of  very  noble  nature,  as  his  acts  testified,  and  he, 
too,  loved  to  indulge  in  memories  of  the  early  days  of 
the  republic.  I  had  always  supposed  that  all  the  public 
men  of  the  Revolutionary  period  were  spotless  patriots, 
and  worthy  of  all  praise,  but  I  have  a  suspicion  that  the 
world  has  progressed  in  every  generation,  for  Mr.  Morris 
told  me  that  in  his  boyhood  his  father,  of  the  same  name, 
who  was  our  minister  at  Paris  during  the  French  Revo- 
lution and  the  days  of  the  Terror,  used  to  take  him  with 
him  in  his  yearly  drives  from  Morrisania  to  Bedford  to 
visit  the  chief  justice,  and  there  he  overheard  their  con- 


EARLY  DAYS  IN  NEW  YORK'  -' Mal- 
versation, as  they  dwelt  upon  their  early  experiences  at 
the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  government,  and  had 
much  to  say  about  the  performances  of  the  "damned 
rascals  of  the  first  Congress,"  as  they  called  them. 

I  think  that  it  would  now  be  hard  to  find  the  spot  at 
Mott  Haven  where  stood  the  hospitable  mansion  of 
Gouverneur  Morris,  which  I  often  visited.  It  was  a 
somewhat  sequestered  rural  retreat  on  the  banks  of  the 
Kills,  where  it  was  quite  practicable  at  that  time  to  fish, 
but  now  the  whole  region  has  become  a  part  of  the  city, 
compactly  built  and  without  the  possibility  of  discover- 
ing the  remains  of  the  Morris  mansion.  I  remember 
that  it  contained  in  one  of  the  parlors  a  complete  set 
of  furniture  which  had  come  from  the  Tuileries,  where  it 
had  been  used  by  Louis  XVI  and  Marie  Antoinette,  and 
was  justly  regarded  as  a  most  interesting  treasure. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Morris's  father,  I  believe,  had 
not  suited  his  relatives  of  the  Morris  family,  who  had 
hoped  to  be  his  heirs,  as  he  had  long  remained  a  bachelor, 
and  he  told  me  that,  when  they  assembled  to  celebrate 
his  birth,  the  health  of  the  new-born  child  was  proposed 
under  the  name  of  Kutusoff,  who  had  at  that  time  be- 
come a  distinguished  Russian  general  in  the  wars  of  Napo- 
leon, and  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  First  Corps  of 
the  Russian  army  against  the  French  had  gained  a  vic- 
tory, and  afterwards  commanded  the  allied  army  under 
the  Emperor  Alexander  at  Austerlitz. 

Mr.  George  L.  Schuyler  and  his  noble  wife,  a  grand- 
daughter of  Alexander  Hamilton,  were  among  the  most 
delightful  people  that  I  have  ever  known.  They  were 
both  of  really  famous  historical  descent,  and  their  home 
was  an  extremely  attractive  and  happy  one.  Mr.  Schuy- 
ler was  the  most  genial  and  delightful  of  men,  never  as- 


• 


102  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

suming  anything  or  taking  on  airs  by  reason  of  his  illus- 
trious pedigree  and  alliance,  and  always  extremely  affable 
and  interesting.  He  told  me  that  he  had  shaken  hands 
with  every  President  except  George  Washington.  His 
father,  who  had  been  a  member  of  Congress,  and  was 
the  son  of  General  Philip  Schuyler,  took  George,  when 
he  was  about  ten  years  old,  on  a  visit  to  Quincy  to  call 
upon  John  Adams,  and  shortly  afterwards  to  Monticello 
to  call  upon  Thomas  Jefferson,  to  be  presented  to  those 
famous  founders  of  the  republic,  both  of  whom  shortly 
afterwards  died  on  the  same  day,  on  the  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  the  signing  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
which  one  of  them  had  drawn,  and  the  other  had  done 
all  he  could  to  promote.  This  was  one  of  the  most  strik- 
ing historical  coincidences  ever  known,  for  in  those  days, 
so  long  before  the  era  of  travel  by  steam  and  communica- 
tion by  telegraph,  Monticello  and  Quincy  were  as  far 
apart  as  New  York  and  China  are  to-day,  and  although 
John  Adams  with  almost  his  dying  breath  had  said, 
"Thomas  Jefferson  still  lives,"  it  was  not  so,  for  they 
died  together  on  the  same  Fourth  of  July. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schuyler  exercised  a  most  graceful  hos- 
pitality, especially  avoiding  all  ostentation  or  display, 
but  giving  most  agreeable  dinners,  for  one  of  his  favorite 
maxims  was  that  eight  was  the  ideal  number  for  a  dinner- 
party, so  that  all  the  company  at  table  could  take  part 
in  all  the  conversation.  These  occasions  were  very  happy 
ones  to  remember.  He  lived  to  a  green  old  age,  always 
taking  a  warm  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  transmitting 
to  his  children  not  only  the  memory  of  his  unspotted 
life,  but  a  taste  for  public  service  of  the  highest  char- 
acter. 

His  son  Philip  took  part  in  the  Civil  War  on  the  staff 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  103 

of  General  Wool,  and  his  daughter,  Miss  Louisa  Lee 
Schuyler,  has  exercised  a  great  and  most  wholesome  in- 
fluence in  the  promotion  of  many  measures  that  tended 
to  advance  the  welfare  of  the  community.  I  remember 
taking  part  with  her  in  her  splendid  crusade  for  the  rescue 
of  the  dependent  insane  of  the  State  from  the  prisons 
and  poorhouses  of  counties  and  towns,  and  transferring 
them  to  the  care  of  the  State  itself,  which  has  provided 
homes  of  a  permanent  character  for  them  in  all  respects 
suitable  for  their  condition.  It  was  a  fight  of  many  years 
against  all  sorts  of  corrupt  influences,  and  she  led  the 
way  most  triumphantly  from  beginning  to  end.  In  many 
other  services  she  has  shown  a  tact  and  power  worthy 
of  her  distinguished  progenitors,  so  that  when  Columbia 
University,  in  1914,  conferred  upon  her  the  rare  honor 
of  a  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  it  was  universally  regarded 
as  a  just  recognition  of  her  work  and  character. 


But  to  return  to  the  law.  In  the  early  part  of  1856 
Mr.  Evarts  kindly  invited  me  to  come  into  his  office, 
and  made  a  seat  for  me  in  his  own  room,  and  there  I  soon 
got  to  be  very  busy.  As  a  prominent  Bachelor  of  Laws 
of  Harvard  University  and  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts 
bar,  I  had  looked  forward,  of  course,  to  entering  imme- 
diately upon  a  career  in  the  courts,  but  nothing  could  be 
further  from  the  actual  fact.  The  world  does  not  need 
the  counsel  of  boys,  either  in  court  or  out,  but  I  was  de- 
termined, if  possible,  to  make  myself  indispensable  in 
that  office,  and  an  easy  way  soon  opened,  for  they  found 
out  that  I  could  write  a  good  hand,  and  could  keep  it 
up  at  the  rate  of  twelve  folios  an  hour  for  ten  hours  a 
day.    There  were  no  stenographers,  and  only  an  ancient 


104  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

scrivener,  a  regular  retainer  of  the  office,  and  another 
casual  friend  of  his  who  was  called  in  occasionally,  but 
they  could  not  keep  up  with  the  rush  of  work.  Mr.  But- 
ler and  Mr.  Southmayd  used  to  draw  tremendously  long 
papers,  and  many  of  them  came  into  my  hands  to  copy, 
which  I  did  with  the  greatest  avidity,  learning  a  great 
deal  all  the  time  as  to  the  preparation  of  papers;  and 
many  a  long  document  will  be  found  in  my  handwriting 
in  the  county  clerk's  office  and  the  surrogate's  court  and 
the  register  of  deeds  of  that  day.  And  so  I  gradually 
became  quite  necessary. 

I  attended  courts  also  at  the  call  of  the  calendar,  and 
can  recall  the  interesting  habits  of  the  bar  at  that  time. 
The  leaders  of  the  bar  always  appeared  in  dress  suits 
at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  the  imperturbable 
George  Wood,  who  was  the  most  famous  of  the  chancery 
lawyers,  as  some,  I  think,  were  then  called,  and  who 
was  all  brain,  made  long  arguments  with  so  little  emo- 
tion or  manifestation  of  feeling  that  a  story  was  told  of 
him  that  always  impressed  me  very  much,  for  it  was 
said  that  in  an  important  case  where  he  had  to  make 
a  special  effort,  one  of  the  tails  of  his  dress  coat,  when 
he  rose  to  speak,  rested  upon  the  table  at  which  he  had 
sat,  and  there  it  remained  undisturbed  during  the  whole 
of  his  argument  of  two  hours,  to  the  great  entertainment 
of  all  the  bystanders. 

The  judges  of  the  courts  were  all  highly  respectable, 
but  they  were  very  few  in  number,  and  they  received 
very  small  salaries,  as  compared  with  those  now  paid. 
I  think  that  in  the  Supreme  Court  there  were  but  three 
judges,  who  held  jury  terms  and  equity  terms,  and  then 
sat  together  in  the  general  term  on  appeal.  The  superior 
court  held  a  very  high  place  and  had  a  very  large  com- 


EARLY  DAYS  IN  NEW  YORK  105 

mercial  business,  and  there  were,  I  think,  three  or  four 
judges  there,  consisting  of  some  famous  men  like  Chief 
Justice  Oakley  and  Judge  Duer,  who  would  have  been 
a  credit  to  any  tribunal  anywhere.  To  show  how  the 
Federal  Government  has  gained  upon  the  States  until 
almost  the  entire  power  of  the  nation  has  been  concen- 
trated at  Washington,  there  was  only  one  judge  of  the 
federal  court  in  New  York  at  that  time,  the  Honorable 
Samuel  R.  Betts,  and  there  was  hardly  business  enough 
for  him.  He  was  at  quite  an  advanced  age,  and  often 
took  naps  upon  the  bench,  so  that  the  lawyers  before 
him  had  to  raise  their  voices  to  a  very  high  pitch  to  wake 
him  up.  But  Judge  Samuel  Nelson,  who  was  one  of  the 
greatest  lawyers  and  judges  I  ever  knew,  was  then  as- 
signed to  the  second  circuit,  and  on  very  important  cases 
he  would  come  and  sit  with  Judge  Betts. 

And  now  how  changed  it  all  is!  Some  ten  federal 
judges  holding  court  all  the  time  can  hardly  keep  up 
with  the  pressure  of  business,  and  when  the  courts  open 
in  October  many  branches  are  holding  separate  terms, 
and  there  is  now  a  bill  pending  in  Washington  for  adding 
two  new  judges  to  the  district.  In  those  days  the  prac- 
tice in  the  federal  court  was  a  terra  incognita  to  most 
lawyers,  and  a  very  few  offices,  of  which  ours  was  one, 
had  any  business  there. 

The  scriveners,  with  whom  as  a  skilful  writer  I  was 
intimately  associated  in  my  early  days  in  the  office,  were 
an  interesting  lot,  most  of  them  Irishmen  who  had  done 
nothing  else  since  their  immigration.  Samuel  L.  Mont- 
gomery, the  scrivener  of  our  office,  known  there  and  to 
the  whole  profession  as  Sam,  was  a  truly  interesting  char- 
acter. He  had  been  there  for  untold  years,  and  had  mar- 
ried, brought  up  one  family,  and  had  lost  his  wife,  and 


106  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

one  day  he  came  to  Mr.  Evarts  and  said  that  he  was 
going  to  be  married  again.  Well,  they  congratulated 
him,  the  heads  of  the  office  were  much  pleased,  and  gave 
him  a  vacation  of  two  weeks  for  his  honeymoon,  and 
made  up  a  nice  little  purse  for  him  to  take  the  journey 
with  his  wife.  After  the  appointed  time  he  returned  to 
the  office  in  finest  of  spirits,  and  this  conversation  oc- 
curred between  Mr.  Evarts  and  him:  "Well,  Sam,  we 
are  very  glad  to  see  you  back.  Did  you  have  a  good 
time?"  "Had  a  perfect  time.  Never  had  such  a  good 
time  in  my  life."  "Well,  where  did  you  go?"  "Went 
to  Saratoga,  Trenton  Falls,  Niagara  and  back."  "Did 
you  have  time  enough?"  "Plenty  of  time."  "Money 
enough?"  "Yes,  I  had  some  left."  "Well,  how  did  your 
wife  enjoy  it?"  Sam  scratched  his  head.  "Well,"  said 
he,  "the  fact  is,  I  left  her  in  Brooklyn." 

The  other  casual  scrivener,  who  came  off  and  on  when 
there  was  extra  work,  was  named  Collins,  and  one  day 
when  he  had  grown  quite  old  he  came  to  me  and  wanted 
help  to  get  into  an  old  man's  home.  "Well,"  said  I, 
"Mr.  Collins,  you  don't  look  as  though  you  needed  to 
go  to  an  old  man's  home.  You  look  in  fine  health  and 
condition.  How  old  are  you?"  "Well,  I  am  eighty- 
two.  I  think  it  is  time  for  me  to  stop  work  and  go  into 
an  old  man's  home."  "I  wish,"  said  I,  "that  you  would 
tell  me  how  it  is  that  you  have  kept  in  such  splendid 
condition  till  eighty-two,  for  I  should  like  to  get  there 
myself  in  as  good  shape  as  you  are."  "Well,"  said  he, 
"I  will  tell  you.  I  have  always  kept  married.  I  am  on 
my  fifth  wife  now."  So  I  gave  him  the  help  he  wanted 
for  so  worthy  an  object. 

I  had  always  had  in  mind  that  I  would  combine  with 
my  professional  life  as  much  attention  to  public  services 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  107 

as  was  compatible  with  it,  and  I  had  hardly  been  in  the 
office  six  months  before  the  great  campaign  of  1856  came 
on,  when  the  Republican  party  was  formed,  and  made 
Fremont  and  Dayton  its  candidates  to  run  against  Bu- 
chanan and  Breckinridge.  The  object  of  its  formation 
was,  if  possible,  to  prevent  the  further  extension  of  slavery, 
which  had  been  made  possible  by  the  legislation  in  Pierce's 
administration,  during  which  the  famous  Kansas-Ne- 
braska Act  was  formed,  and  left  the  great  northwest 
region  possibly  open  to  the  introduction  of  slavery,  the 
Missouri  Compromise  of  1820  and  the  great  compromise 
acts  of  1850  having  been  thrown  to  the  winds.  Of  course 
I  joined  the  Republican  party,  and  remember  being  a 
member  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Campaign  Club,  which 
took  rooms  in  the  Stuyvesant  Institute  on  Broadway 
near  Eighth  Street,  not  far  from  my  residence,  and  Charles 
A.  Dana  and  John  J.  Townsend  and  other  men  of  dis- 
tinction in  later  years  were  members.  I  remember  well 
my  first  political  speech  for  Fremont  and  Dayton  in 
the  summer  of  1856,  just  after  they  were  nominated. 
It  was  made  at  a  meeting  held  on  the  roof  of  our  board- 
ing-house in  Bleecker  Street,  gotten  up  by  Judge  Brown 
and  E.  C.  Benedict,  long  since  known  as  Commodore 
Benedict,  the  friend  of  Grover  Cleveland.  We  assem- 
bled after  dinner,  and  I  made  the  principal  speech,  which 
seemed  to  entertain  and  satisfy  the  large  audience  con- 
sisting of  inmates  of  the  house,  and  then  later  before 
the  election  I  made  a  still  more  important  speech  at  Con- 
stitution Hall,  corner  of  Thirty-fourth  Street  and  Eighth 
Avenue.  Huge  placards  were  set  up  in  the  vicinity,  rep- 
resenting an  express-train,  with  General  Fremont  running 
the  train  as  engineer,  and  running  over  an  old  buck  that 
lay  upon  the  track  representing  Buchanan,  and  under 


io8  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

this  in  great  capitals  was  a  notice  that  Joseph  H.  Choate 
and  others  would  address  the  meeting,  and  that  victory 
was  certain.  It  was  a  very  good  meeting,  in  which  Mr. 
Carter  and  the  Reverend  O.  B.  Frothingham  took  part, 
giving  a  religious  aspect  to  the  affair.  Some  fifty  years 
afterwards  I  found  one  of  those  placards  in  overhauling 
my  papers,  had  it  framed,  and  sent  it  to  the  Union  League 
Club,  where,  I  believe,  it  is  still  preserved  in  the  archives 
as  showing  an  important  step  in  the  history  of  the  Repub- 
lican party. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  John  Fremont  in  Charles 
Gould's  office  in  Wall  Street  before  the  election,  and 
was  impressed  with  the  idea  that  he  was  a  very  light 
character  and  contained  no  great  amount  of  what  is  known 
as  presidential  timber,  and  it  was  probably  well  for  us 
that  we  were  thoroughly  beaten.  Nevertheless,  the  cam- 
paign, which  was  well  fought  (for  after  all  Buchanan 
was  a  minority  President,  and  Fremont  had  a  million 
and  a  half  of  votes  to  Buchanan's  eighteen  hundred  thou- 
sand), paved  the  way  for  the  triumphant  election  of 
Lincoln  and  the  saving  of  the  country  four  years  after- 
wards. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hamilton  Fish  undoubtedly  occupied 
at  that  time  the  foremost  place  in  the  social  world  of 
New  York,  although  he  had  not  attained  to  the  world- 
wide distinction  that  he  afterwards  acquired  in  his  eight 
years'  service  with  President  Grant  as  his  secretary  of 
state.  Mrs.  Fish,  like  her  sister  Mrs.  Griffin,  was  a  lady 
of  great  charm,  and  they  exercised  a  most  dignified  and 
generous  hospitality  entirely  free  from  the  extravagance 
and  dissipation  that  has  of  late  marked  what  is  called 
society  in  New  York  City.    I  regarded  it  as  a  very  great 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  109 

honor  to  be  invited  now  and  then  to  their  dinners,  where 
I  always  found  myself  among  the  best  people. 

A  very  early  admission  to  the  Century  Club  in  1858 
brought  me  into  relations  with  the  most  charming  circle 
of  men.  The  club  then  consisted  of  something  less  than 
two  hundred  members,  of  whom  almost  all  the  original 
members  of  the  club,  founded  in  1846,  still  survived. 
Time  was  not  so  pressing  then  as  it  has  since  become, 
and  comparative  leisure  prevailed  with  them  all,  so  that 
not  only  on  Saturday  nights,  but  on  almost  every  night 
in  the  week,  except  Sunday,  many  of  these  delightful 
old  members  were  present,  and  we  youngsters  sat  at 
their  feet  in  devout  admiration.  Such  men  as  Gulian 
Crommelin  Verplanck,  William  CuIIen  Bryant,  Doctor 
Bellows,  the  two  Kembles,  Gouverneur  and  William, 
Charles  M.  Leupp,  Jonathan  Sturges,  John  H.  Gourlie, 
and  others  of  great  distinction,  including  many  artists 
like  Daniel  Huntington,  Charles  C.  Ingham,  Frederick 
E.  Church,  John  F.  Kensett,  and  others  of  their  pro- 
fession, which  always  has  constituted  a  very  prominent 
element  in  the  club,  formed  such  a  group  of  character 
and  good  fame  as  can  hardly  be  found  at  the  present 
day  in  any  club  in  New  York,  I  think.  It  was  an  im- 
mense privilege  and,  in  fact,  the  completion  of  a  liberal 
education  to  be  thrown  among  such  men,  intercourse 
with  whom  contrasted  very  strongly  with  my  simple 
and  secluded  life  at  Salem. 

The  Century  occupied  a  very  modest  building  in  Fif- 
teenth Street.  There  was  no  cuisine,  and  the  only  re- 
freshments on  ordinary  nights  consisted  of  oysters,  which 
we  cooked  ourselves  in  chafing-dishes,  and  a  favorite 
drink  was  what  was  called  a  Renwick,  invented  and  in- 


no  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

troduced  by  Professor  Renwick  of  Columbia  College, 
containing  a  little  sprinkling  of  Jamaica  rum.  Small 
as  the  body  was,  it  enjoyed  almost  an  international  repu- 
tation, and  every  stranger  of  distinction  that  came  to 
the  city  was  sure  to  be  introduced  there  at  the  meetings 
on  Saturday  night,  which  were  always  largely  frequented 
by  the  members.  Thackeray,  Tom  Hughes,  and  many 
other  famous  Englishmen  appeared  there,  and  on  my 
first  visit  to  London,  in  1879,  Tom  Hughes  was  good 
enough  to  take  me  to  a  meeting  of  a  club  that  he  had 
organized  in  the  same  name,  but  which,  I  believe,  did 
not  long  survive.  At  any  rate,  it  never  attained  any- 
thing like  the  distinction  of  its  namesake. 

I  ought  not  to  forget  one  other  and  very  different  form 
of  social  intercourse,  which  I  enjoyed  from  the  very  day 
of  my  landing  in  New  York,  and  that  was  at  Doctor 
Bellows's  church,  which  still  stands  on  the  corner  of 
Twentieth  Street  and  Fourth  Avenue,  and  which  was 
then  often  spoken  of  derisively  by  our  orthodox  friends 
as  the  "beefsteak"  or  "zebra"  church,  from  its  peculiar 
architecture.  It  was  frequented  by  a  large  number  of 
educated  and  highly  intelligent  people,  largely  from 
New  England,  and  Doctor  Bellows  was  a  noble  element 
in  the  life  of  New  York,  and  a  very  eloquent  and  power- 
ful preacher.  I  cherish  his  memory  most  devoutly  as 
my  first,  last,  and  only  pastor,  and  keep  his  portrait  close 
by  me  by  night  and  by  day  in  memory  of  the  wonder- 
fully wholesome  influence  that  he  exercised  upon  my 
personal  life.  He  was  a  man  of  most  untiring  energy, 
not  only  in  his  profession,  but  in  all  other  good  works, 
and  his  wonderful  achievements  a  few  years  afterwards 
in  organizing  and  maintaining  throughout  the  Civil  War 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  in 

the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission,  of  which  he  was 
president,  has  given  him,  I  believe,  a  lasting  place  in 
history. 

Thus  it  may  be  conceded  that  from  the  outset  I  en- 
joyed very  choice  and  unique  social  privileges,  and  al- 
though in  my  subsequent  busy  life  I  had  to  curtail 
indulgence  in  them  somewhat,  they  have  ever  been  in 
the  retrospect  a  most  satisfactory  pleasure. 


AT  THE  NEW  YORK  BAR 

The  conduct  of  law  business  in  those  primitive  days 
was  very  different  in  every  particular  from  the  strik- 
ingly commercial  methods  into  which  the  profession  has 
fallen,  or  risen,  in  recent  years.  For  instance,  the  office 
of  Butler,  Evarts  &  Southmayd  consisted  of  four  very 
moderate-sized  rooms  on  the  second  floor  of  2  Hanover 
Street,  a  little  building  which  has  long  ago  been  de- 
molished, and  the  place  included  in  the  great  banking- 
house  of  Brown  Brothers  &  Company.  There  were  only 
two  clerks  besides  myself  in  the  office  and  one  scrivener. 
There  was  no  railing,  which  now  marks  every  office  that 
I  know  about  and  which  we  forbade  as  long  as  it  was 
possible,  and  there  were  no  retiring  rooms  for  the  part- 
ners and  leading  associates  in  the  office.  Cashier's  and 
accountant's  rooms  would  have  been  thought  absolutely 
unprofessional,  as  the  lawyers  of  the  establishment  did 
their  own  work. 

It  was  not  long  after  I  had  established  my  prowess  as 
a  scrivener,  as  I  have  already  described,  that  I  gradually 
began  to  come  into  the  kind  of  work  to  which  I  had  looked 
forward  when  I  chose  the  law  as  my  profession,  and  I 
had  the  singular  good  luck,  quite  unprecedented,  I  think, 
then  and  now,  to  serve  for  some  ten  years  as  junior  to 
Mr.  Evarts  in  the  conduct  of  the  litigation  which  then 
constituted  a  very  considerable  portion  of  the  business 
of  the  office,  and  occasionally  the  litigation  into  which 
Mr.  Evarts  was  called  as  counsel.  I  learned  to  pre- 
pare the  cases  for  trial  and  for  argument,  and  then  to 


AT  THE  NEW  YORK  BAR  113 

assist  in  preparing  my  senior  for  his  vastly  more  im- 
portant part  of  the  work.  At  first  I  was  amazed  at  his 
wonderful  power  of  assimilating  everything  that  I  did, 
and  the  extraordinary  speed  with  which  he  would  make 
himself  master  of  all  the  questions  involved  in  a  case 
to  be  tried.  For  he  would  come  into  court,  when  he 
found  that  he  could  rely  upon  my  preparation,  abso- 
lutely knowing  nothing  about  the  case,  and  would 
assume  the  conduct  of  it,  and  in  a  half-day  would  ap- 
pear to  have  possessed  himself  of  every  question  to  be 
tried  in  it,  and  of  every  leading  bit  of  evidence  to  be  pre- 
sented, so  that  from  that  time  on  to  the  end  of  the  case 
he  was  fully  imbued  with  all  that  was  necessary  for  its 
proper  presentation.  I  had  never  seen  anything  like 
this  mental  action  before,  and  never  realized,  until  I 
came  to  stand  in  the  same  relation  to  my  junior  in  long 
subsequent  years,  that  it  was  simply  an  acquired  faculty 
to  which  a  man  of  quick  brain  and  energetic  nervous 
action  could  qualify  himself. 

Mr.  Evarts,  although  then  only  thirty-eight  years 
old,  was  rapidly  rising  to  the  foremost  place  in  the  pro- 
fession, and  here  I  think  I  ought  to  say  something  a  little 
more  at  large  about  his  wonderful  faculties  and  his  ex- 
traordinary career. 

He  was  already  only  a  few  steps  behind  the  very  leaders 
of  the  bar  at  that  time.  With  such  men  as  Francis  B. 
Cutting,  George  Wood,  Charles  O'Conor,  James  T.  Brady, 
Daniel  Lord,  William  Curtis  Noyes,  and  Marshall  S. 
Bidwell  he  was  found  to  be  in  daily  conflict,  and  his  opin- 
ion on  important  questions  was  already  much  in  demand. 
Of  these  men  it  is,  I  think,  fair  to  say  that  their  superiors 
have  never  been  produced  at  the  New  York  bar  from  that 
day  to  this. 


ii4  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

Francis  B.  Cutting  was,  perhaps,  the  most  formidable 
advocate  in  court  that  ever  was  at  work  in  New  York. 
He  was  of  tremendous  physical  force,  and  seemed  to 
throw  all  his  energy  of  body  and  mind  into  the  case  that 
he  was  for  the  time  conducting.  He  was  a  handsome 
creature,  and  in  this  respect  I  think  was  without  an  equal. 
In  all  the  work  of  the  courts,  in  the  examination  of  wit- 
nesses, in  the  discussion  of  the  questions  of  evidence, 
and  in  the  presentation  of  the  case  to  the  court  or  the 
jury,  as  might  be,  he  had  no  superior,  and  to  be  brought 
in  conflict  with  him  led  to  a  rapid  education  of  his  juniors. 
He  was  in  all  the  leading  cases,  but  his  professional  career 
was  brought  to  a  sudden  end  in  the  trial  of  the  Parish 
will  case  in  1858,  a  case  which  was  one  of  the  very  lead- 
ing cases  up  to  that  time  in  the  history  of  New  York 
on  the  subject  of  testamentary  capacity.  Right  in  the 
midst  of  it  he  broke  down  suddenly  and  finally,  so  that 
I  think  he  never  appeared  in  court  again.  And  it  shows 
what  a  point  in  advancement  Mr.  Evarts  had  already 
reached  that  he  was  called  into  the  case  as  Mr.  Cutting's 
successor,  and  proved  himself  fully  equal  to  the  conduct 
of  it;  and  from  that  time  I  think  he  ranked  as  one  of  the 
foremost  leaders  of  the  bar  in  New  York,  and,  of  course, 
in  the  country  at  large. 

Mr.  O'Conor  was  by  common  consent  the  foremost 
of  the  great  lawyers  of  the  day.  In  power  of  logic,  in 
keen  and  incisive  criticism,  in  fierceness  of  attack  and 
defense,  and  in  the  complete  mastery  of  the  law  he  was 
certainly  without  a  superior. 

Mr.  Daniel  Lord  was  of  a  wholly  different  type,  but 
was  called  upon  every  day  to  cope  with  O'Conor.  Im- 
mense weight  of  character,  absolute  fidelity  to  the  client 
and  the  cause,  untiring  industry,  excellent  manners,  and 


AT  THE  NEW  YORK  BAR  115 

never-failing  courtesy,  especially  towards  his  juniors, 
were  qualities  the  combination  of  which  made  him  irre- 
sistible whenever  he  had  a  fair  case  to  present,  and  as 
Mr.  Evarts  had  been  brought  up  in  his  office  and 
graduated  from  there  some  fifteen  years  before,  we  looked 
upon  him  naturally  with  the  greatest  reverence,  to  which 
he  was  fully  entitled. 

Mr.  William  Curtis  Noyes  was  another  model  of  pro- 
fessional excellence  and  success.  He  was  more  like  the 
commercial  lawyer  of  to-day  than  any  of  his  compeers, 
and  was,  I  believe,  perhaps  the  first  example  that  we 
had  of  a  counsellor  fully  qualified  to  initiate  and  carry 
on  great  corporate  organizations,  and  I  think  that,  up 
to  the  time  that  death  struck  him  from  the  roll,  he  might 
be  regarded  as  the  most  successful  lawyer  of  his  time. 

James  T.  Brady  was  one  of  the  most  delightful  men 
I  have  ever  met.  He  was  a  real  orator  and  was  largely 
engaged  in  defense  of  criminal  cases,  although  he  was 
quite  equal  to  any  civil  procedure  that  might  arise;  his 
striking  personality  as  a  witty  and  jovial  Irishman  fully 
made  up  for  any  lack  of  legal  learning  and  entitled  him 
to  a  place  in  the  front  rank.  He  was  one  of  the  dearest 
and  most  fascinating  of  men;  always  frank  and  open, 
having,  so  far  as  I  could  see,  nothing  to  conceal  and  no 
desire  to  conceal  anything,  and  he  commanded  a  pop- 
ularity far  exceeding  that  which  at  that  time,  I  think, 
any  of  his  associates  in  the  profession  enjoyed.  He  was 
always  in  demand  for  great  public  meetings  and  never 
failed  to  make  a  first-rate  speech. 

Marshall  S.  Bidwell  was  a  lawyer  of  great  learning. 
Descended  from  a  famous  lawyer  of  the  same  name,  he 
had  practised  in  Canada  for  many  years,  and  had  be- 
come the  leader  of  the  Liberal  party  there  previous  to 


n6  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

and  during  the  Rebellion  of  1837,  and  became  so  formi- 
dable to  the  government  that  he  was  ordered  to  leave  the 
country,  and  he  moved  to  New  York  City,  where  he  sub- 
sequently practised  law  and  took  a  prominent  position. 
He  left  his  name  upon  the  profession  by  establishing 
the  office  which,  under  the  name  of  Bidwell  &  Strong, 
Strong  &  Cadwalader,  and  now  Cadwalader,  Wickersham 
&  Taft,  has  maintained  such  an  enviable  position  in  the 
city. 

Among  this  group  my  senior  found  a  fitting  place  in 
the  legal  world  and  was  constantly  engaged  in  the  most 
vigorous  kind  of  work.  I  regret  very  much  that  although 
fifteen  years  have  passed  since  his  death  no  adequate 
memoir  of  Mr.  Evarts  has  as  yet  been  produced,  and 
the  number  of  those  who  knew  him  well  is  rapidly 
diminishing.  Taking  him  for  all  in  all,  he  was  the 
quickest-witted  man  that  I  have  ever  known  on  either 
side  of  the  water,  and  in  the  course  of  a  long  life  I  have 
met  many  of  the  foremost  men  of  intellect  and  action, 
both  here  and  in  Great  Britain.  Nothing  could  pos- 
sibly escape  him,  and  his  mind  seemed  to  flash  instan- 
taneously, no  matter  what  was  the  subject  that  engaged 
his  attention.  He  was  exceedingly  fortunate,  too,  in 
being  at  the  height  of  his  powers  during  the  most  in- 
teresting period  of  our  history,  and  it  so  happened  that 
four  or  five  of  the  greatest  and  most  interesting  causes 
that  have  ever  engaged  the  attention  of  our  courts  came 
when  he  was  at  the  head  of  the  profession,  and  as  such 
was  naturally  called  upon  to  take  a  leading  part  in  them. 

The  Lemmon  slave  case,  in  the  court  of  appeals  at 
Albany,  involved  most  interesting  questions  in  regard 
to  the  application  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  he  was 
retained  by  the  State  of  New  York  as  counsel  to  main- 


AT  THE  NEW  YORK  BAR  117 

afn  the  right  of  the  alleged  slave  to  his  liberty.  It  hap- 
*  ens  to  few  lawyers  in  a  single  life  to  be  called  on  to  lead 
1  four  such  cases  as  the  Geneva  Arbitration,  the  Elec- 
oral  Commission,  the  impeachment  of  President  John- 
on,  and  the  trial  of  the  case  of  Tilton  against  Beecher. 

The  Geneva  Arbitration  was  the  one  great  historical 
ase  which  would  form  a  fitting  ornament  and  achieve- 
nent  of  any  great  professional  career.  He  had  very 
powerful  associates  in  Caleb  Cushing,  of  Massachusetts, 
ind  Morrison  R.  Waite,  of  Ohio,  who  afterwards  became 
.hief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  was  opposed  by 
iir  Roundell  Palmer,  who  for  his  great  services  in  the 
:ase  was  afterwards  raised  to  the  peerage  and  became 
^ord  Chancellor  of  England,  as  Lord  Selborne.  It  was 
1  case  of  truly  international  importance,  and  may  safely 
oe  said  to  have  attracted  the  attention  of  the  whole  world. 
ft  was  a  natural  sequel  to  those  alarming  differences  which 
lad  arisen  between  the  two  countries  out  of  the  conduct 
)f  Great  Britain  in  letting  out  the  Alabama  and  the  other 
sea  raiders  to  prey  upon  the  commerce  of  America  during 
Dur  Civil  War,  and  which,  in  effect,  did  really  destroy 
it  for  the  time  being.  I  do  not  suppose  that  any  legal 
controversy  ever  enlisted  and  excited  the  feelings  of  the 
people  of  two  great  nations  so  much.  He  led  with  great 
distinction  and  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  the  winner 
of  the  case,  which  resulted  in  what  I  believe  to  have  been 
the  largest  pecuniary  award  ever  recovered  in  such  an 
arbitration,  and  when  he  returned  to  America,  bringing 
his  sheaves  with  him  in  the  shape  of  fifteen  millions  of 
dollars  as  the  result  of  his  efforts,  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  he  was  met  knew  no  bounds. 

This  was  the  finest  laurel  Mr.  Evarts  ever  won,  and 
from  the  novelty  and  world-wide  interest  in  the  case, 


u8  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

it  is,  perhaps,  the  most  notable  professional  achieve- 
ment that  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  any  American  advocate. 
Making  full  allowance  for  all  the  aid  rendered  by  his 
distinguished  associates,  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  is 
entitled  to  the  chief  credit  for  the  grand  result,  and  the 
pecuniary  success  of  it  was  nothing  compared  to  its  im- 
mense value  as  establishing  the  supremacy  of  arbitration 
as  the  only  sure  means  of  settling  international  quarrels 
between  great  nations,  for  this  question  had  been  threat- 
ening war  from  the  time  of  the  escape  of  the  Alabama. 

The  trial  of  the  impeachment  of  President  Johnson 
was  one  of  the  grandest  and  most  thrilling  legal  conflid 
that  has  ever  taken  place  anywhere.  The  President 
had  undoubtedly  been  guilty  of  very  imprudent  con- 
duct, but  the  narrow  technical  issue  on  which  the  cas( 
chiefly  turned,  his  alleged  violation  of  the  Tenure  of 
Office  Act,  raised  a  constitutional  question  which  should 
easily  have  protected  him  before  any  tribunal.  It  seemed 
to  me  at  the  time  that  the  impeachment  of  the  President 
was  one  of  those  high-handed  and  desperate  attempts 
which  are  sometimes  made  in  seasons  of  great  party  ex- 
citement, not  only  to  oust  the  President  from  office,  but 
for  the  time  being  to  paralyze  the  executive  office  itself, 
and  to  usurp  on  the  part  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
the  whole  executive  power  of  the  government.  The 
purpose  of  the  impeachment,  if  they  could  succeed  in 
removing  the  President,  to  put  the  office  in  the  hands 
of  an  extremely  zealous  leader  of  the  party,  was  never 
disavowed,  and  so  it  required,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  great 
courage  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Evarts,  who  had  been  a  life- 
long Republican,  to  accept  a  retainer  from  the  Presi- 
dent, and  to  maintain  his  cause  and  the  integrity  of  his 
great  office  to  the  best  of  his  ability.     His  conduct  of 


AT  THE  NEW  YORK  BAR  119 

the  case  as  a  forensic  performance  will  never,  I  think, 
be  forgotten.  He  was  associated  with  two  great  lawyers, 
both  of  whom  were  considerably  older  than  himself, 
William  S.  Groesbeck,  of  Cincinnati,  and  Judge  Ben- 
jamin R.  Curtis,  of  Boston,  but  Mr.  Evarts  had  to  bear 
the  brunt  of  the  case  and  was  found  to  be  not  only  physi- 
cally but  mentally  fully  adequate  to  the  occasion.  His 
extreme  readiness  on  the  floor,  his  startling  wit,  his  broad 
ability  to  grapple  with  all  the  legal  and  constitutional 
questions  that  arose,  made  him  a  very  conspicuous  figure 
in  the  case.  It  may  be,  and  I  think  it  is  the  case,  that 
as  the  Senate,  which  formed  with  the  Supreme  Court 
the  tribunal  to  hear  and  determine  the  case,  was  then 
constituted,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  obtain  the 
two-thirds  vote  necessary  for  a  verdict  of  removal,  for 
there  were  a  number  of  senators  in  whose  minds  patriotism 
was  before  party,  and  I  have  always  regarded  it  as  one 
of  the  most  brave  and  public-spirited  triumphs  of  good 
conscience  that  seven  senators  were  found,  under  the 
lead  of  Mr.  Fessenden  and  Mr.  Trumbull,  to  defy  the 
imperious  dictates  of  their  party  and  vote  for  acquittal 
of  the  President. 

The  Electoral  Commission  was  a  very  rare  and  an 
absolutely  unique  form  of  litigation  as  a  means  of  settling 
a  contested  election  for  the  presidency,  and  although 
it  had  no  international  bearings,  it  put  to  a  severe  test 
the  possibility  of  adjusting  such  a  contest  without  resort 
to  force.  If  Mr.  Tilden  had  been  more  pugnacious  and 
had  really  claimed  what  his  followers  all  believed — that 
he  was  entitled  to  a  plurality  of  votes  of  some  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand — a  contest  of  force  for  the  posi- 
tion might  well  have  taken  place,  as  General  Grant,  then 
President  and  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy 


120  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

of  the  United  States,  would  certainly  have  resisted  the 
claim.  It  was  a  very  happy  outcome  from  a  most  dan- 
gerous issue,  and  the  counsel  who  conducted  the  con- 
troversy before  the  commission,  of  whom  Mr.  Evarts 
was  the  chief  on  the  Republican  side,  are  entitled  to  the 
very  greatest  credit  for  their  devotion  to  the  case. 

By  virtue  of  the  extreme  prominence  of  the  part  taken 
by  Mr.  Evarts  in  the  Geneva  Award  and  in  the  Elec- 
toral Commission,  he  was  practically  compelled  to  de- 
vote the  rest  of  his  life  to  the  public  service,  and  in  the 
great  offices  of  attorney-general  of  the  United  States, 
secretary  of  state,  and  senator  from  New  York  he  cer- 
tainly rendered  admirable  service  to  the  whole  nation. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  notwithstanding  the  result  of 
the  Electoral  Commission  a  cloud  of  doubt  and  suspicion 
rested  upon  the  title  of  President  Hayes,  and  it  was  by 
the  happy  selection  of  a  very  powerful  and  public-spirited 
cabinet,  of  which  Mr.  Evarts  was,  as  secretary  of  state, 
at  the  head,  that  this  embarrassment  was  completely 
overcome,  so  that  the  administration  of  Mr.  Hayes  will 
be  found  to  rank  very  high  in  the  history  of  good  govern- 
ment with  any  that  preceded  or  followed  it. 

The  case  of  Tilton  against  Beecher  was  not  only  in- 
finitely curious  and  interesting,  but  its  conduct  on  the 
part  of  the  defense,  in  which  Mr.  Evarts  led,  was  one 
that  called  forth  the  highest  powers  of  advocacy.  The 
most  distinguished  clergyman  in  the  United  States  was 
put  on  trial  for  alleged  acts  of  gross  immorality,  of  which 
he  doubtless  was  entirely  innocent.  The  trial  occupied 
many  weeks,  and  of  course  every  word  that  was  uttered 
in  the  court-room  was  bruited  abroad  throughout  the 
country  as  far  as  the  press  could  carry  it.  The  argu- 
ments in  summing  up  were  of  inordinate  length,  Mr. 


AT  THE  NEW  YORK  BAR  121 

Evarts's,  I  think,  occupying  nine  days,  or  seven  days, 
and  Mr.  Beach's  for  the  plaintiff  nearly  as  long;  but 
the  whole  history  of  the  case,  every  consideration  and 
circumstance  that  could  possibly  have  any  material  bear- 
ing upon  the  issue,  were  all  contained  in  the  first  day  of 
his  seven  days'  argument.  Mr.  Evarts  must  have  been 
in  complete  sympathy  from  the  start  with  his  distin- 
guished client;  they  were  both  of  that  stern  old  Puritan 
descent,  origin,  and  discipline  which  had  continued  in 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  undiluted  down  to  their 
time,  and  I  have  often  said  to  Mr.  Evarts  that  I  thought 
his  own  mental  and  moral  qualities  were  as  fully  dis- 
played in  his  first  day's  argument  as  those  of  his  great 
client. 

Thus  it  appears  that  Mr.  Evarts  easily  held  to  the 
end  of  his  days  the  well-earned  post  of  the  greatest  and 
most  famous  advocate  at  the  American  bar. 

Such  was  the  man  with  whom,  from  a  point  midway 
in  his  great  professional  career,  I  was  closely  associated 
until  his  death  forty  years  afterwards,  and  the  digression 
which  I  have  made  to  sketch  his  character  was  neces- 
sary to  show  the  very  unusual  and,  indeed,  unique  ad- 
vantage that  I  enjoyed  from  the  very  outset  of  my  young 
professional  life.  I  cannot  recall  any  other  instance  of 
a  lawyer  in  America  having  such  an  advantage  at  the 
start.  In  England,  where  the  distinction  of  the  pro- 
fession between  barristers  and  attorneys  is  strictly  main- 
tained, there  is  a  somewhat  similar  relation  at  times 
established  between  the  leaders  of  the  bar  and  their 
juniors.  For  instance,  I  have  heard  that  Lord  Haldane, 
who  came  afterwards  to  be  Lord  Chancellor,  after  a  most 
distinguished  professional  career  at  the  bar,  especially 
in  the  chancery  side  of  the  practice,  "devilled,"  as  they 


122  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

call  ft,  for  twelve  years  at  the  beginning  with  Lord 
Davey. 

Lord  Davey,  himself,  had  been  very  eminent  at  the 
chancery  bar,  and  is  believed  to  have  had  the  largest 
professional  income  of  any  lawyer  there  from  private 
practice,  not  including  those  who  had  held  the  office 
of  attorney-general,  or  solicitor-general,  and  had  in  those 
days  been  permitted  to  continue  their  private  practice 
at  the  same  time,  and  who,  of  course,  enjoyed  in  the 
matter  of  fees  a  very  great  advantage.  For  instance, 
it  was  the  common  talk  of  the  profession,  when  I  was 
in  England,  that  Sir  Roundell  Palmer,  already  referred 
to  as  the  leading  counsel  for  Great  Britain  in  the  Geneva 
Arbitration,  had  in  one  year,  while  attorney-general, 
realized  the  net  sum  of  fifty  thousand  pounds,  but  it 
was  also  said  that  he  worked  for  it  day  and  night  the 
year  round,  from  Monday  morning  until  Saturday  night, 
and  that  one  day,  when  Mr.  Goldwin  Smith  needed  very 
much  to  see  him  and  called  at  his  chambers  for  the  pur- 
pose, his  clerk  said:  "Is  it  absolutely  necessary  for  you 
to  see  him  ?M  To  which  Mr.  Smith  replied  that  he  thought 
that  it  was.  "Well,"  said  the  clerk,  "if  you  say  it  is 
necessary,  you  can  see  him,  but  I  would  advise  you  not 
to,  for  he  hasn't  been  in  bed  since  Sunday  night,"  and 
this  was  Thursday. 

The  devilling  process  consisted  very  much  in  what  I 
did  so  long  for  Mr.  Evarts,  working  up  the  cases,  study- 
ing the  questions,  preparing  a  brief  or  memorandum 
for  the  senior,  and  being  kept  for  the  time  somewhat 
in  the  shade,  but  when  Lord  Davey  was  raised  to  the 
bench,  Lord  Haldane,  then,  of  course,  Mr.  Haldane,  came 
into  full  possession  of  his  reward,  for  he  immediately 
succeeded  to  about  half  of  the  business  that  Lord  Davey 


AT  THE  NEW  YORK  BAR  123 

had  enjoyed;  and,  throwing  off  the  devil's  mask  at  once, 
came  into  a  place  of  great  prominence  in  the  profession. 
So  I  enjoyed  during  my  term  of  ten  or  twelve  years  of 
subordinate  service  all  the  advantages  which  are  open 
to  the  young  English  barrister  and  which  are  almost 
wholly  unknown  here,  and  I  never  can  sufficiently  ex- 
press my  obligations  and  gratitude  to  Mr.  Evarts  for 
giving  me  this  great  opportunity. 

But  I  am  getting  a  little  ahead  of  my  story  and  must 
go  back  to  the  beginning,  when  I  entered  the  law  office 
in  Hanover  Street  as  a  student  in  January,  1856.  After 
I  had  been  there  about  six  months  the  firm  proposed 
that  I  should  remain  with  them  for  a  year  as  a  clerk, 
there  being  only  two  others  occupying  that  relation.  I 
was  to  receive  five  hundred  dollars.  I  gladly  accepted 
the  offer  and  thought  myself  very  rich,  and  I  think  that 
I  enjoyed  that  five  hundred  dollars  more  than  I  ever 
enjoyed  the  greater  individual  fees  which  came  to  me 
in  after-years,  for  I  was  immediately  able  to  write  to 
my  father  that  he  would  not  have  to  send  me  any  more 
money,  as  I  could  take  care  of  myself,  and  so  relieve 
the  poorly  furnished  family  purse  of  that  much  of  the 
drain  upon  it.  After  a  year,  at  the  beginning  of  1857, 
the  firm  proposed  that  I  should  continue  for  another 
year,  and  as  an  inducement  offered  me  a  salary  of  eight 
hundred  dollars,  and  that  I  might  do  any  business  of 
my  own  that  should  happen  to  come  to  me,  and  in  that 
year  I  received,  besides  my  salary,  about  five  hundred 
dollars  in  fees,  so  that  at  the  beginning  of  1857  I 
really  thought  myself  a  Croesus.  My  financial  am- 
bition was  not  very  lofty,  for  I  remember  very  well  feeling 
and  saying  at  that  time  that,  if  I  could  ever  find  myself 
the  owner  of  accumulations  to  the  amount  of  ten  thou- 


124  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

sand  dollars,  I  should  be  perfectly  satisfied  and  never 
want  more. 

At  this  time,  too,  my  large  earnings  of  one  thousand 
three  hundred  dollars  a  year  enabled  me  to  begin  to  ac- 
cumulate, for  I  have  always  thought  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  every  lawyer  to  begin  to  provide  for  his  future  in  that 
way  as  soon  as  possible.  I  never  went  quite  to  the  ex- 
treme of  Mr.  Southmayd,  who  used  to  preach  the  doc- 
trine of  self-denial  very  urgently,  and  declare  it  to  be 
the  duty  of  every  lawyer  to  accumulate  his  entire  pro- 
fessional income  from  the  start.  "But,"  said  I,  "it  isn't 
everybody  that  can  do  that,  for  we  must  live."  "No," 
said  he,  "that  doesn't  follow;  that  is  not  at  all  neces- 
sary." It  had  not  been  necessary  in  his  case,  because 
he,  fortunately,  lived  at  home  and  had  no  expenses  ex- 
cept for  his  clothes,  and  those  were  simple  and  modest, 
for  he  always  patronized  the  same  tailor,  and  hating  to 
go  to  be  measured  or  to  try  on,  he  fell  into  the  habit  of 
sending  a  semiannual  message  to  his  tailor:  "Two  suits 
like  the  last."  So,  for  his  sixty  years,  there  was  never 
any  change  in  the  fashion  of  his  garments.  But  there 
is  no  such  wonderful  rule  for  a  young  lawyer,  no  such 
aid  in  his  personal  advancement,  as  to  begin  to  accu- 
mulate as  early  as  possible,  no  matter  how  little,  for  he 
begins  in  that  way  to  have  income  that  earns  itself,  wholly 
independent  of  his  own  exertions. 

Thus  I  continued  in  the  office  of  my  superiors  for  about 
three  years,  until  in  1858,  seeing  no  prospect  of  any  further 
advance  in  that  office  and  feeling  myself  already  fledged, 
I  struck  out  for  myself  and  opened  a  law  office  in  Wall 
Street  in  partnership  with  William  Henry  Leon  Barnes, 
a  year  or  two  my  junior.  Both  of  us  were  in  the  same 
line,  ambitious  to  become  court  lawyers,  he  having  been 


AT  THE  NEW  YORK  BAR  125 

for  a  year  or  two  with  Mr.  Charles  O'Conor,  as  I  had 
been  with  Mr.  Evarts.  Possibly  we  might  have  done 
very  well  in  long-continued  partnership,  although  I  have 
my  doubts  about  that,  because  we  were  too  much  in 
the  same  line;  but  he  got  married  and  went  off  for  a 
very  long  wedding-tour,  which  took  him  to  Europe  for 
several  months. 

In  the  meantime,  Mr.  Evarts  began  to  approach  me 
with  new  overtures,  asking  at  first  if  I  did  not  know  of 
any  young  man  whom  they  could  get  to  come  in  with 
them  to  help  in  the  business  of  the  firm.  Of  course  I 
said  I  did  not.  But  he  from  time  to  time  continued  his 
approaches,  and  finally  said:  "You  don't  seem  to  under- 
stand what  I  am  after.  We  want  you  back  in  the  office, 
and  to  come  in  as  a  member  of  the  firm."  Of  course  I 
could  not  resist  this  splendid  opportunity,  because  the 
firm  was  certainly  at  that  time  the  leading  firm  in  the 
city.  So  the  firm  Choate  &  Barnes  was  dissolved,  and 
Barnes,  who  was  certainly  one  of  the  most  brilliant  young 
men  of  his  time,  went  to  try  his  fortunes  in  California, 
where  he  became  connected  with  one  of  the  foremost 
lawyers  there,  and  had  a  very  successful  career. 

I  wish  that  I  could  find  the  letter  that  Mr.  Evarts 
wrote  to  me  stating  the  terms  on  which  I  could  come 
in  with  them,  for  in  a  few  words  it  furnished  a  very  good 
illustration  of  the  situation  of  the  bar  at  that  time,  so 
far  as  money  was  concerned.  The  idea  of  lawyers  mak- 
ing great  fortunes  appears  never  to  have  occurred  to 
anybody.  The  law  was  a  strict  profession,  and  was  satis- 
fied with  ordinary  and  reasonable  rewards.  He  wrote 
that  they  would  like  to  have  me  join  the  firm  as  a  part- 
ner, and  that  I  should  receive  fifteen  per  cent  of  the  in- 
come,  not  including,   however,   his  own  counsel  cases, 


126  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

those  in  which  he  was  employed  by  other  lawyers  and 
with  which  his  firm  had  nothing  to  do.  He  added  that 
while  he  could  not  state  exactly  what  this  would  amount 
to,  he  thought  that  I  might  safely  count  upon  at  least 
three  thousand  a  year.  This  would  make  the  entire  office 
income  twenty  thousand  dollars,  instead  of  the  half  mil- 
lion which  I  understand  in  these  later  days  some  law 
offices  enjoy.  Well,  I  thought  that  my  fortune  was  cer- 
tainly made,  for  it  had  never  occurred  to  me  that  in  five 
years  after  leaving  the  law  school  I  could  come  into  such 
an  income  as  it  would  give  me,  and  which,  I  suppose, 
measured  by  modern  standards,  was  equal  to  four  or 
five  times  the  amount  to-day.  From  this  time  forward 
I  not  only  had  the  great  privilege  of  working  with  Mr. 
Evarts,  to  which  I  have  already  referred,  but  gradually 
began  to  be  employed  independently  of  that.  The  mere 
fact  of  my  having  been  taken  into  so  distinguished  a 
firm  gave  me  a  sort  of  personal  standing  of  my  own,  and 
clients  began  to  come  to  me,  and  sometimes  in  Mr. 
Evarts's  absence,  and  especially  in  the  absence  of  the 
other  members  of  the  firm,  I  was  called  upon  in  emer- 
gencies to  act  for  myself.  By  dint  of  untiring  industry 
and  reasonable  ingenuity  and,  I  must  admit,  some  au- 
dacity, I  began  to  make  headway  quite  rapidly. 

I  remember  very  well  my  first  great  constitutional 
case,  which  was  as  amusing  as  it  was  audacious.  Gen- 
eral James  Watson  Webb,  who  had  been  an  intimate 
friend  of  Mr.  Evarts  and  Mr.  Prescott  Hall,  and  a  lot 
of  other  prominent  men  and  good  livers  in  New  York, 
and  who  had  been  editor  of  The  Courier  and  The  Enquirer, 
and  a  loyal  supporter  of  William  H.  Seward,  came  into 
the  office  one  Saturday  afternoon  and  inquired  for  Mr. 
Evarts.    Of  course  Mr.  Evarts  was  never  there  on  Satur- 


AT  THE  NEW  YORK  BAR  127 

day  afternoon,  and  he  said,  "Well,  then,  you  must  help 
me,"  and  he  stated  his  case.  He  had  just  been  appointed 
minister  to  Brazil  by  President  Lincoln,  and  had  made 
all  his  arrangements  to  sail  on  the  following  Wednesday, 
when,  to  his  infinite  surprise,  he  had  been  served  with 
short  summonses,  as  they  were  called,  in  the  Marine 
Court,  which  were  returnable  on  the  following  Tues- 
day, one  day  before  he  was  to  sail.  As  several  parties 
to  whom  he  was  indebted  for  these  small  sums  were  act- 
ing together,  he  had  found  out  that  there  was  a  con- 
spiracy among  them  to  get  judgment  on  Tuesday  and 
to  seize  his  trunks  as  he  was  going  on  board  the  steamer, 
and  so  prevent  his  sailing  altogether.  They  were  prob- 
ably the  parties  from  whom  he  had  got  more  or  less  of 
his  outfit. 

"Well,"  said  I,  "General  Webb,  what  is  your  de- 
fense?" "I  am  sure  I  don't  know,"  said  he.  "Have 
you  had  these  goods?"  "Yes."  "Have  you  paid  for 
them?"  "No,  I  had  no  money."  "Well,  how  came 
they  to  sue  you  in  the  Marine  Court,  of  all  places  in  the 
world?"  "Well,"  said  he,  "it  is  just  as  I  say,  a  con- 
spiracy to  prevent  my  sailing.  You  must  put  in  a  de- 
fense." I  reflected  and  said:  "Well,  I  will  try,  but  I 
am  not  at  all  sure  that  it  will  succeed."  "Do  the  best 
you  can,"  said  he.  "Have  you  got  your  commission?" 
I  asked.  He  took  it  out  of  his  pocket  signed  Abraham 
Lincoln,  President;  William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of 
State,  and  with  a  big  seal  of  the  United  States  upon  it 
which  looked  as  big  as  a  large  platter,  and  which  I  thought 
would  make  a  great  impression  in  court,  especially  in 
the  Marine  Court,  which  was  a  small  municipal  tribunal 
of  very  limited  jurisdiction.  So  I  interposed  the  plea 
that  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  the  Federal 


128  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

Courts  had  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  all  suits  affecting 
ambassadors,  public  ministers,  and  consuls,  and  on  Tues- 
day, the  return  day,  I  appeared  in  court  and  interposed 
that  plea.  A  very  eminent  lawyer  of  that  day,  many 
years  my  senior,  appeared  on  the  other  side,  and  pro- 
posed to  pooh !  pooh !  me  out  of  court.  "Why,"  said  he, 
"your  Honor,  Mr.  Choate  is  endeavoring  to  impose  upon 
you.  The  clause  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
to  which  he  refers,  giving  the  Federal  Courts  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  all  suits  affecting  ambassadors,  public 
ministers,  and  consuls,  refers  only  to  foreign  ambassadors, 
public  ministers,  and  consuls/'  I  insisted,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  there  was  no  such  word  as  "foreign"  in  the 
Constitution,  and  that  the  clause  in  question  included 
all  ambassadors,  public  ministers,  and  consuls.  "Will 
your  Honor  please  send  for  the  Constitution,  and  then, 
perhaps,  we  shall  see  who  is  trying  to  impose  upon  the 
court."  So  the  Constitution  was  brought  and  read,  and 
it  turned  out  that  I  was  right.  The  word  "foreign"  was 
not  in  it,  and  we  argued  it  to  and  fro  on  the  reason  of 
the  thing,  and  Judge  Henry  Alker,  who  held  the  court 
and  was  half  Irishman  and  half  Frenchman,  and  a  brother- 
in-law  of  James  T.  Brady,  to  whom  I  have  already  re- 
ferred, took  the  papers  for  consideration,  and  in  the 
afternoon  he  rendered  a  decision  in  my  favor,  dismissing 
all  the  cases,  and  the  general  went  on  his  watery  way 
to  Brazil  unimpeded  by  judgments  or  executions.  It 
was  quite  a  professional  triumph,  and  the  best  of  it  was 
that  in  due  time  I  sent  to  the  general  a  bill  for  my  services, 
of  which  he  never  took  any  notice.  But  I  have  heard 
cases  argued  in  the  Supreme  Court  at  Washington,  con- 
stitutional cases,  too,  which  had  very  much  less  merit 
in  them  than  the  one  which  I  then  presented  to  the  Ma- 


AT  THE  NEW  YORK  BAR  129 

rine  Court  with  so  much  success.  The  Supreme  Court 
of  the  State,  however,  to  whom  one  of  the  creditors  had 
resorted  when  the  case  came  on  there  in  the  fall,  laughed 
the  defense  out  of  court,  and  the  creditors  found  ample 
means  to  recover  judgments,  which,  probably,  were  not 
worth  much  more  than  the  paper  on  which  they  were 
written. 

I  worked  like  a  Trojan  at  the  law.  For  nearly  forty 
years  (to  be  exact,  for  thirty-seven  years),  until  I  had 
the  honor  to  be  appointed  ambassador  to  England  in 
1899,  I  labored  steadily  at  the  preparation,  trial,  and 
arguments  of  cases  in  the  courts,  with  hardly  a  break 
from  the  first  Monday  of  October  round  to  the  last  Friday 
of  June.  In  the  course  of  that  time  I  disposed  of  an  enor- 
mous number  of  cases,  steadily  growing  in  importance 
and  difficulty,  and  without  any  failure  of  health.  This 
was  a  rare  blessing,  for  almost  every  lawyer  that  I  have 
known  who  has  worked  under  the  same  pressure,  and 
there  were  very  few  of  them,  suffered  at  least  one  break- 
down, which  disabled  him  for  a  time. 

When  I  came  to  see  how  the  English  lawyers  work 
and  how  they  are  relieved  by  frequent  holidays,  I  won- 
dered that  we  had  ever  maintained  our  arduous  struggle 
through  the  year  without  breakdowns.  There  the  courts 
come  in  in  October  and  continue  their  sessions  for  eight 
or  nine  weeks  until  Christmas,  when  they  have  a  two 
weeks'  holiday,  and  every  busy  barrister  drops  his  briefs 
and  makes  for  the  Continent  or  for  the  mountains,  and 
has  a  real  period  for  rest  and  recruiting;  then  they  come 
in  again  and  work  for  eight  or  nine  weeks  more,  which 
brings  them  to  the  Easter  recess,  another  real  holiday 
of  ten  or  twelve  days  with  the  same  advantage;  another 
eight  or  ten  weeks  of  work  and  Whitsuntide  arrives  (a 


i3o  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

third  intermediate  holiday  of  which  we  know  nothing 
and  which  we  ought  to  borrow  at  once) ;  and  then  a  fourth 
term  of  eight  or  ten  weeks  of  work,  which  brings  them 
up  to  the  1 2th  of  August,  when  the  law  is  off  on  grouse, 
and  courts  and  barristers,  kings,  lords,  and  commons 
disappear  for  the  long  vacation  of  twelve  weeks.  No 
wonder  that  they  hold  out  better  than  ourselves,  and 
that  nervous  breakdowns  are  rarely  heard  of  over  there ! 
But  with  us  it  is,  in  the  case  of  busy  barristers,  a  con- 
tinuous and  almost  uninterrupted  nervous  strain  for  nine 
months  of  the  year. 

It  would  be  hardly  worth  while  to  recall  even  the 
names  of  the  cases  in  which  I  was  constantly  engaged 
in  the  earlier  half  of  my  professional  life.  The  founda- 
tions were  being  laid  for  the  subsequent  superstructure 
of  professional  success.  I  had  a  great  liking  for  jury 
trials,  and  it  always  seemed  to  me  that  the  lawyer  who 
is  constantly  engaged  in  that  branch  of  legal  practice 
leads  a  more  intensely  intellectual  life  than  almost  any 
other  professional  man. 


MARRIAGE 

Having  reached  the  point  where  I  could  not  only  sup- 
port myself,  but  a  family,  I  naturally  thought  of  getting 
married,  but  had  never  met  my  fate  in  this  respect,  nor 
encountered  a  woman  who  answered  all  my  ideas.  But 
one  day  my  friend  John  H.  Sherwood  said  to  me:  "I 
want  to  introduce  you  to  a  young  lady  who  I  am  sure 
will  exactly  suit  you,  and,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  you  will 
suit  her  equally  well."  He  must  have  been  a  wonderful 
judge  of  character  to  make  so  bold  a  prophecy,  but  he 
proved  to  be  a  real  prophet.  Not  long  afterwards,  I 
think  by  his  arrangement,  I  was  invited  to  dine  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Thomas  P.  Rossiter,  then  a  noted  artist 
and  very  prominent  in  a  social  way  among  the  artists 
of  New  York  at  that  day,  and  there  I  met  Miss  Caroline 
Dutcher  Sterling,  the  daughter  of  Frederick  A.  Sterling, 
of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  I  very  soon  found  that  it  was 
as  Mr.  Sherwood  had  said.  But  there  was  a  serious  dif- 
ficulty in  the  way.  She  was  living  at  the  house  of  her 
cousin,  Mrs.  Rossiter,  and  had  come  to  New  York  for 
the  purpose  of  studying  art,  intending  to  devote  herself 
to  it  as  a  profession  for  life,  with  great  prospect  of  suc- 
cess. She  was  some  five  years  my  junior,  and  was  as 
earnestly  devoted  to  art  as  I  was  to  the  law,  so  that  we 
were  both  most  unfortunately  busy,  and  the  worst  of 
it  was  that  she  had  made  a  vow  of  some  sort  never  to 
think  of  anything  but  art.  In  fact,  she  wore  a  wedding- 
ring  on  which  was  inscribed  the  words  "Wedded  to  art," 
and  the  date,  some  time  before  I  knew  her.     However, 

131 


1 32  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

I  followed  up  our  first  acquaintance  with  great  persis- 
tence, and  found  that  the  more  I  saw  of  her  the  better 
I  liked  her,  and  came  to  know  that  she  had  all  the  traits 
that  I  wanted,  and  that  I  must  stake  all  my  fortunes  on 
that  die.  Still  that  plaguey  wedding-ring  stood  in  my 
way,  but  there  is  no  rock  so  hard  but  that  a  little  wave 
will  beat  admission  in  a  thousand  years,  and  after  a  while 
I  found  that  she  began  to  relent,  and  that  my  prospects 
were  brightening  every  day,  so  I  pressed  on,  and  on  the 
Fourth  of  July,  1861,  the  beleaguered  fortress  yielded,* 
and  I  celebrated  that  anniversary  of  our  national  inde- 
pendence by  sacrificing  my  own  independence  for  life 
The  old  wedding-ring  was  put  aside,  and  on  the  16th  of 
October,  in  that  year,  I  put  another  ring  upon  her  finger, 
which  continues  there  to  this  day. 

*  The  following  self-explanatory  verses,  which  were  found  among  Mr.  Choate's 
papers,  are  interesting,  as  they  were  written  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1861,  to  Mrs. 
John  Jay,  at  Katonah,  in  Westchester  County.  The  manuscript  of  the  verses 
was  discovered  by  Mrs.  Jay  among  her  papers  and  returned  to  the  writer. 

"My  dear  Mrs.  Jay — 

Words  are  weak  to  convey 
The  chagrin  and  dismay 
Which  it  costs  me  to  say, 
I  must  still  disobey 
You:   nor  come,  on  the  Fourth,  to  Katonah. 

But  that  day  of  parade 
I  have  vowed  to  a  maid 
Of  whose  wrath  I'm  afraid 
Lest  my  word,  once  betrayed, 
She  may  leave  me  for  life  to  bemoan  her. 

She  is  youthful  and  fair, 
With  the  saintliest  air, 
And  her  sunny  brown  hair 
Decked  with  lilies  so  rare 
Descends  on  the  rarest  of  shoulders. 

And  hard  were  the  case, 
But  the  wonderful  grace 
That's  enthroned  in  her  face 
Would  win  her  a  place 
In  the  hearts  of  the  coldest  beholders. 


MARRIAGE  133 

Upon  the  whole,  it  was  the  most  fortunate  day  of  my 
life,  for  although  fifty-five  years  and  more  have  fled,  I 
think  that  neither  of  us  has  ever  had  occasion  to  regret 
it.  In  all  that  time  we  have  had  some  very  severe  trials 
and  afflictions,  but  for  all  that  have  had  abundant  and 
ever-increasing  cause  to  be  thankful.  She  is  fully  en- 
titled to  the  better  half  of  all  our  prosperity  and  success, 
and  now,  as  the  end  of  life  approaches,  we  do,  indeed, 
find  ourselves  blessed  with  all  that  should  accompany 
old  age,  as  honor,  love,  obedience,  troops  of  friends. 

For  the  first  year  of  our  married  life  we  went  to  board 
with  her  aunt,  Mrs.  Carr,  in  a  pleasant  little  house  on 
Twenty-third  Street,  just  east  of  Fourth  Avenue.  It 
was  destroyed  a  few  years  ago,  but  the  marks  of  it  still 
remain  on  the  side  of  the  adjoining  mansion  of  much 
greater  pretensions  against  which  it  rested.    In  the  spring 

And  then,  such  a  mind! 
Why,  I  may  be  stone  blind 
But  if  you  can  find 
One  as  pure  and  refined 
And  as  rightly  inclined 
You  must  let  it  appear  in  the  sequel. 

And  then,  as  for  her  soul, 
While  our  planet  shall  roll 
You  may  ransack  the  whole, 
From  Equator  to  Pole 
But  will  never  discover  her  equal. 

She's  so  free  from  all  taint 
That  men  call  her  a  saint, 
And  she  may  or  she  mayn't 
Lend  an  ear  to  my  plaint, 
But  my  heart  is  not  faint 
And  my  lips  with  all  praises  have  blest  her. 

Now  I  trust  you'll  excuse 
This  poor  plea  of  my  muse, 
Since  I  cannot  but  choose 
For  this  cause,  to  refuse 
What  it  grieves  me  to  lose — 
A  kind  welcome  once  more  to  Westchester." 


i34  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

of  1863  we  ventured  to  go  to  housekeeping,  and  hired 
for  six  hundred  dollars  a  year  a  modest  house  in  West 
Twenty-first  Street,  No.  93,  afterwards  changed  to  No. 
137,  which  we  occupied  for  six  or  seven  years  until  it 
would  hold  no  more  children  than  four,  with  whom  we 
had  already  been  blessed. 

When  we  look  around  us  in  these  days  and  see  how 
children  of  our  acquaintance  are  in  the  habit  of  com- 
mencing married  life  on  the  scale  which  their  parents 
have  already  attained,  we  sometimes  wonder  how  we 
ever  had  the  courage  to  embark  in  it,  but  those  were 
very  simple  days,  and  we  were  able  by  dint  of  a  reason- 
able frugality  to  lay  aside  from  year  to  year  about  half 
our  income,  which,  being  steadily  continued,  soon  re- 
moved all  danger  of  the  wolf  coming  to  our  door. 


THE  LIFE 

OF 

JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


JOSEPH   HODGES  CHOATE 

CHAPTER   I 
IN  SALEM  AND  AT  HARVARD 

A  LETTER  FROM  SALEM — CAMBRIDGE  AND  HARVARD — SPARKS  AND 
EVERETT — ANTISLAVERY  DAYS — GEORGE  THOMPSON,  ABOLITIONIST 
— THE  FLOW  OF  THE  UNDERGRADUATE  SOUL — INSPECTING  THE 
NEW   WEST 

Following  the  record  made  by  Mr.  Choate  himself  of 
his  ancestry  and  childhood  in  Salem,  his  college  years 
and  start  in  his  profession,  there  now  proceeds  the  story 
derived  from  his  early  letters  of  a  clever  and  cheerful 
young  man,  well  born,  dutiful  and  diligent,  of  excellent 
habits  and  admirable  talents,  and  of  what  he  sought  in 
this  world  and  what  he  found. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  world  he  was  born 
into  was  by  no  means  the  one  to  which  we  are  now  try- 
ing to  adjust  ourselves.  His  course  was  run  in  the  world 
that  was  and  is  no  more.  It  started  at  a  notable  time, 
covered  a  remarkable  historical  period,  and  reached  to 
within  plain  sight  of  the  end  of  the  cycle  it  belonged  to. 
The  story  of  his  career  is  the  story  of  a  man  who  was 
fond  of  that  world  and  of  many  people  in  it,  enjoyed  it, 
laughed  at  it,  helped  it  on  its  way,  and  took  his  toll  of 
it  as  he  went  along. 

Some  of  the  letters  reach  back  into  the  peiiod  which 
he  has  himself  incompletely  treated.  "My  dear  Sisters," 
he  writes  in  June,  1848,  having  then  reached  the  ma- 
turity of  sixteen  years,  "though  not  much  acquainted 

137 


138  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

with  the  art  of  letter-writing,  I  venture  to  do  my  best, 
as  mother  is  too  busy.  As  you  might  suppose,  we  are 
all  very  lonely  without  you;  to  sit  down  at  the  table 
with  four  only  instead  of  our  usual  good,  round  number, 
is  for  us  'bad  enough.'  " 

Already  he  is  a  writer  who  can  arrange  his  words  in 
a  good  order.  He  proceeds  to  the  extent  of  two  large 
pages  and  a  half,  as  follows: 

"George  dined  in  Boston  on  Wednesday,  said  they 
were  all  well  there,  saw  Martha,  and  her  little  girl,  which 
he  said  was  very  pretty  indeed,  a  great  deal,  I  think,  for 
George  to  say.  I  met  Mrs.  Saunders  and  her  daughter, 
Mrs.  Cleveland,  Thursday  evening,  coming  up  from  the 
cars;  they  had  just  returned  from  Boston,  said  they 
were  expecting  Mrs.  Darling  home  every  moment,  so 
that  I  suppose  she  is  or  will  be  today,  in  Swampscott, 
as  she  intended  to  go  the  day  after  her  arrival,  and  her 
uncle  Alex  and  family  have  been  there  several  days.  Mr. 
Spelman  has  hired  lodgings  at  a  boarding  house  in  Rox- 
bury.  Mr.  Darling  accompanied  his  wife  as  far  as  Cin- 
cinnati. I  believe  it  is  now  decided,  that  she  will  not 
return  again  with  her  husband  to  New  Orleans.  She  has 
had  too  hard  experience  this  time,  for  I  imagine,  the 
care  of  two  babies,  in  the  double  journey,  as  well  as  living 
at  the  Hotel  with  them,  would  be  considered  hard.  You 
can  tell  about  such  things,  however,  better  than  I,  so 
that  I  should  only  be  laughed  at,  by  you,  if  I  should  at- 
tempt to  make  any  further  remarks. 

"The  nomination  of  Genl.  Taylor  was  received  here 
by  the  Whig  party,  with  very  good  grace,  although  some 
of  them  were  very  much  disappointed.  Our  whole  body 
of  merchants,  however,  seem  to  feel  a  deep  interest  in 


IN  SALEM  AND  AT  HARVARD  139 

favor  of  his  cause.  A  ratification  meeting  was  held  here, 
about  a  week  ago,  at  which  Mr.  Huntington,  the  Dele- 
gate from  this  District,  made  his  report  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  Philadelphia  Convention,  after  which  Hon.  George 
Lunt  of  Newburyport,  a  strong  Taylor  man,  addressed 
the  meeting,  which  was  allowed  on  all  sides,  The  Salem 
Advertiser,  alone  excepted,  to  be  a  very  enthusiastic  one. 
Father,  too,  seems  to  take  quite  an  interest  in  politics, 
as  a  Taylor  man,  attends  the  caucuses,  etc.  A  large 
delegation  of  Whigs  left  here  in  an  extra  train  last  eve- 
ning, to  attend  the  Boston  Ratification  convention,  held 
in  Faneuil  Hall.  They  were  accompanied  by  the  band, 
and  mustered  about  500.  The  fare  was  very  low,  only 
30  cents  for  the  whole  trip,  which  probably  induced  many 
to  go,  who  would  not  have  done  so  at  the  usual  rate. 

"We  now  begin  to  think  of  Cambridge,  in  earnest,  it 
is  only  7  weeks  to  the  end  of  our  last  school  term.  Henry 
Stone  has  concluded  to  go  to  Harvard  with  the  rest  of 
us,  and  will  chum  with  Upham.  Little  Charley  Phillips, 
whose  head  was  so  badly  injured  by  falling  down  stairs, 
is  recovering. 

"I  suppose  you  would  like  to  know  about  the  trial 
of  the  Irishmen  for  the  murder  of  Curran.  The  trial 
commenced  on  Tuesday  last,  and  has  continued  ever 
since;  probably  they  will  not  get  through  with  it  today. 
It  is  tedious  and  uninteresting,  being  merely  a  repetition 
of  the  former  examination  before  Judge  Waters.  Otis 
P.  Lord  made  his  opening  plea  for  the  defence  yesterday 
forenoon,  and  spoke  for  two  hours  and  a  half.  This  is 
a  very  tiresome  case  for  all  concerned,  though  there  is 
no  doubt,  but  that  the  prisoners  will  be  acquitted,  on 
the  ground  of  want  of  proof.  Master  Carlton  was  sum- 
moned as  a  witness,  yesterday  afternoon.    They  wished 


140  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

him  to  inform  them,  of  the  'momentum  of  a  falling  body 
weighing  200  pounds  or  whether  a  man  of  that  weight, 
would  be  likely  to  break  by  jumping  upon  it,  ice  3  inches 
thick.'  But  he  so  puzzled  the  lawyers  by  his  scientific 
answers  that  they  soon  dismissed  him. 

"Mr.  Conner  and  lady  intend  to  go  to  Cambridge,  to 
make  a  visit,  on  the  first  day  of  July,  they  will  remain 
there  a  fortnight.  Though  Uncle  Frank  was  in  New 
York  but  a  short  time,  we  hear  that  he  purchased  500 
dollars  worth  of  goods  there,  which  mother  pronounces 
very  beautiful.  I  fear  that '  Timmy'  cannot  be  persuaded 
'to  write  to  the  girls/  but  if  you  write  to  him,  perhaps 
he  will  think  he  must  answer  it.  We  enjoy  your  letters 
very  much,  so  you  must  keep  writing  about  your  life 
in  Brooklyn. 

"I  have  now  come  to  a  dead  stand,  in  my  ideas  &  I  am 
obliged  to  stop  here,  the  breakfast  bell  too  calls  me  away. 
Mother  says  she  will  write  on  Sunday.  Father  seems 
now  to  be  much  better,  he  says  nothing  about  making 
a  journey  at  present,  though  I  think  he  will  go  by  and 

Yr.  affectionate  brother  T  „ 

Joseph. 

That  is  a  letter  from  a  Harvard  subfreshman  on  the 
eve  of  going  to  college.  It  will  be  remarked  that  there 
is  nothing  in  it  about  a  boat-race  or  athletic  sports  of 
any  kind.  Being  a  letter  to  two  young  ladies  visiting  in 
Brooklyn,  it  records  items  of  local  and  personal  news, 
and  spends  the  rest  of  its  strength  in  politics  and  law, 
winding  up  with  a  reversion  to  domestic  intelligence. 

It  suggests  the  political  atmosphere  in  which  Joseph 
Choate  grew  up.  His  father  was  a  Massachusetts  Whig. 
The  Whigs  generally  of  that  day,  and  the  Massachusetts 


IN  SALEM  AND  AT  HARVARD  141 

Whigs  especially,  believed  in  government  by  the  best 
people.  They  also  believed  conscientiously  that  the 
Whigs  were  the  best  people  and  that  the  Democrats 
were  dangerous  and  irresponsible  folk  with  wild  ideas 
and  a  disposition  to  disturb  things  which  responsible 
business  men  did  not  wish  disturbed.  The  Whigs  were 
conservatives  and  not  much  subject  to  emotions  of  re- 
form. A  dozen  years  ahead  from  the  inauguration  of 
General  Taylor  were  Lincoln  and  the  Civil  War,  but  the 
Massachusetts  Whigs  as  a  party  did  not  know  it  and 
did  not  wish  to  know  it.  They  did  not  like  slavery,  but 
were  for  getting  along  with  it  as  well  as  possible  and  wait- 
ing for  time  to  abate  it.  They  abhorred  the  idea  of  fight- 
ing over  it  and  strongly  deprecated  the  activities  of  per- 
sons like  Garrison,  who  insisted  on  agitating  about  it. 
Out  of  their  ranks  came  eventually  a  large  proportion 
of  the  Massachusetts  men  who  went  into  the  Republican 
party,  and  contended  with  imperishable  distinction  in 
the  great  political  fight  that  culminated  in  the  Civil  War. 
But  in  '48  Massachusetts  Whigs  were  mainly  conserva- 
tive, and,  apparently,  Doctor  George  Choate,  of  Salem, 
was  one  of  them. 

Reared  in  this  political  atmosphere,  Joseph  had  no 
visible  bent  towards  violent  political  reformation.  He 
was  by  birth  for  justice  and  honest  government,  security 
of  person  and  property,  and  all  conditions  that  favored 
the  rise  and  prosperity  of  persons  who  had  it  in  them 
to  prosper,  but  he  was  not  visibly  responsive  to  the  woes 
of  the  black  slave.  It  was  not  that  he  had  an  unfeeling 
heart,  but  that  he  had  other  things  to  think  about  and 
thought  about  them. 

In  '48  Massachusetts  was  still  controlled  by  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Puritans  and  Pilgrims,  but  the  Irish 


142  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

invasion  was  under  way  and  coming  strong.  The  Irish 
were  already  numerous  and  important,  and  were  still 
the  bottom  layer  socially  and  industrially.  The  atti- 
tude towards  them  to  which  Joseph  grew  up  was  not  un- 
kindly, but,  naturally  enough,  was  critical.  He  was 
too  intelligent  and  too  sweet-natured  to  be  harshly  con- 
temptuous, but  he  was  amused  by  the  Irish — incurably 
amused  as  often  appeared  in  later  years  in  New  York. 
The  draft  riots  in  New  York  stirred  him  to  wrath;  in 
the  great  Tweed  and  Tammany  fight  in  1871  he  fought 
Hibernian  domination  in  New  York  to  the  limit  of  his 
strength  and  contributed  in  very  important  measure 
to  beat  it,  but  usually  he  laughed  at  the  Irish,  with  them 
if  possible,  but  laughed. 

But  it  is  incredible  that  he  was  ever  really  anti-Irish, 
though  with  the  Irish  he  got  that  reputation.  There 
was  very  little  race  antipathy  of  any  kind  in  his  com- 
position. He  was  against  having  his  country  upset  and 
mismanaged  by  intrusive  newcomers,  and  the  Irish  of 
his  day  were  mainly  newcomers.  But  they  mixed  in 
rapidly  with  the  older  population  and  lived  with  and 
worked  for  the  people  whom  they  found  in  charge  and 
possession  of  the  country.  To  live  with  the  Irish  may 
not  cure  political  opposition,  but  it  is  apt  to  cure  any- 
thing like  race  antipathy. 

Writing  two  months  later  (August  25)  to  his  sister 
Lizzie  at  North  Andover,  he  tells  of  examinations  and 
admission  to  Harvard  College,  of  his  brother  William 
and  himself. 

"The  examinations  though  very  tedious,  were  not  so 
difficult  but  that  all  the  Salem  Boys  entered;  we  do  not 
yet  know  what  division  we  have  been  placed  in,  and  shall 


IN  SALEM  AND  AT  HARVARD  143 

not,  until  next  Monday.  We  have  all  some  studies  to 
make  up  in  which  we  were  found  deficient.  The  Latin 
&  Greek  which  are  by  far  the  most  important,  were  not 
marked  against  us.  We  are  now  very  busy  in  preparing 
for  our  departure,  and  this  you  must  take  as  an  excuse 
for  the  hasty  manner  in  which  this  letter  is  written. 

"Merritt  will  come  this  afternoon,  to  take  our  furni- 
ture, etc.  and  shall  go  ourselves  tomorrow  morning.  We 
.shall  indeed  go  under  very  happy  circumstances,  for  few 
who  go  there  have  a  brother  to  live  with,  and  so  many 
kind  friends." 

Then  after  communicating  a  few  treasures  of  news 
personally  gleaned,  as  that  pigs  and  cattle  had  destroyed 
all  of  Parson  DalPs  peas  and  potatoes,  "which  loss  he 
seemed  to  deplore  considerably  for  as  he  said  'he  has 
to  keep  pretty  close  to  the  wind  on  his  salary  of  $375/  " 
he  makes  formal  acknowledgment  of  a  present  from  both 
his  sisters. 

"You  will  both  accept  my  most  grateful  thanks  for 
the  present  so  beautiful  and  unexpected,  which  I  have 
received  from  you.  Be  assured,  my  dear  sisters,  that  I 
shall  ever  keep  them  and  wear  them,  and  they  will  be 
to  me  a  token  of  your  lasting  affection  and  urge  me  to 
prove  myself,  by  a  more  faithful  discharge  of  duty  more 
worthy  of  your  kind  attention." 

"The  slippers,"  he  says  in  a  postscript,  "are  very  beau- 
tiful but  I  can  only  thank  you  again  and  again.  I  forgot 
to  say  that  our  class  will  number  about  80.  Of  those 
that  offered  10  were  turned  by,  an  unusually  large  num- 
ber." 


i44  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

In  a  letter  to  "Dear  Caddie,"  written  in  his  second 
term  at  Harvard,  he  says: 

"  We  have  just  got  home  from  a  long  walk,  for  we  make 
a  point  of  walking  more  or  less  every  evening  especially 
in  such  pleasant  weather  as  we  have  had  for  the  past  few 
days.  It  might  perhaps  do  us  more  good  to  get  out  and 
walk  a  mile  or  two  before  breakfast,  but  it  comes  hard 
enough  getting  up  to  prayers,  which,  after  next  week, 
are  to  be  at  6  o'clock,  and  breakfast  immediately  after, 
a  plan  which  I  shall  not  like,  for  it  will  give  us  too  long 
a  forenoon,  and  we  shall  get  awful  hungry  before  dinner. 

"Timmy  (William),  I  think,  must  have  made  great 
exaggerations  about  the  party  which  I  went  to  in  Mai- 
den, to  give  you  the  idea  of  its  being  a  ball.  It  was  a 
mere  country  party,  and  I  thought  from  appearances 
that  all  the  old  maids  of  the  place  were  there,  but  as  for 
'the  pretty  young  ladies'  that  you  talk  about,  they  were 
certainly  very  scarce.  'The  Major'  did  not  honor  the 
occasion  with  his  presence,  but  two  of  his  sisters  were 
there,  one  of  whom  looks  and  talks  exactly  like  Billy. 
The  party  was  at  their  nephew's  house,  Wm.  St.  Agnon's, 
the  Lawyer's.  I  went  with  the  expectation  of  having  a 
grand  time,  and  was  not  at  all  disappointed.  Upham 
and  myself  were  the  only  ones  that  received  invitations, 
but  William  did  not  seem  to  regret  being  so  slighted. 
We  took  the  cars  to  go  down  and  walked  back  at  about 
half  past  2  o'clock. 

"I  have  been  into  Boston  only  once  this  term,  and 
then  I  could  not  induce  Tim  to  go,  he  thought  'it  was 
too  early  in  the  term,  and  once  in  the  term  was  about 
enough.'  We  hope  that  Lizzie  will  not  disappoint  us, 
and  shall  expect  to  see  her  on  Monday  or  Tuesday.    There 


IN  SALEM  AND  AT  HARVARD  145 

is  some  talk  among  the  Seniors  of  celebrating  the  Navy 
Club,  and  as  this  will  be  something  new,  she  would  like 
to  be  here  in  time  to  see  whatever  is  to  be  seen.  Tuesday 
afternoon  is  the  time  appointed  for  the  Procession,  but 
from  all  I  hear,  I  should  think  it  very  doubtful  whether 
they  will  succeed  in  carrying  out  their  plans.  .  .  . 

"The  old  vest  that  Mother  will  find  in  the  Valise,  wants 
a  new  set  of  Buttons,  and  I  think  I  can  wear  it  a  little 
while.  We  are  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  nuts,  though 
I  am  afraid  they  won't  last  a  great  while,  not  that  there 
were  not  plenty  of  them,  but  because  we  eat  them  so 
fast." 

He  writes  his  mother  (letter  undated) : 

"You  have  probably  expected  to  hear  of  some  sort 
of  disturbances  among  the  students,  by  way  of  trying 
the  new  president,  but  everything  is  as  quiet  as  possible, 
and  Mr.  Sparks  seems  to  take  very  well  with  all  the  classes, 
he  is  really  becoming  quite  popular,  his  free  and  easy 
manners  (so  different  from  Mr.  Everett's  reserve  and 
coldness)  please  everybody.  .  .  . 

"Stone  tells  me  that  his  father  is  to  preach  at  the 
chapel  on  Sunday.  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  him  and  hear 
him  too  for  any  change  is  preferable  to  Dr.  Francis,  who 
I  suppose  will  preach  for  Mr.  Stone  and  you  will  have  a 
chance  to  hear  our  Professor  of  Pulpit  Eloquence. 

"For  the  first  week  after  we  came  back,  our  room  was 
very  hard  to  keep  warm,  it  seems  to  require  about  as 
much  fuel,  and  as  constant  a  fire,  as  in  any  of  the  coldest 
weather  before  the  Vacation,  but  now  the  walls  of  the 
building  are  thoroughly  warmed  and  we  find  no  difficulty. 

"We  are  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  offer  of  the 
cushions  for  our  chairs,  and  next  week,  perhaps,  will 


146  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

send  you  the  measure  of  them.  But  I  have  nothing  more 
to  write  and  must  be  off  to  bed,  for  I  must  be  up  early 
in  the  morning,  so  as  to  fix  off  the  Valise  before  break- 
fast." 

And  again  (letter  undated) : 

"Last  evening  I  went  over  to  Faneuil  Hall  expecting 
to  hear  some  great  eloquence  from  George  Thompson 
the  Great  abolitionist  from  England,  but  came  back 
disappointed.  There  seemed  to  be  about  five  hundred 
people  there,  mostly  young  men  who  went  determined 
to  break  up  the  meeting.  Wendell  Phillips  was  speaking 
when  I  went  in  but  he  could  not  be  heard  ten  feet  from 
the  platform.  He  introduced  Mr.  Thompson  who  was 
received  with  tremendous  cheers  by  the  whole  body  of 
the  house  but  as  soon  as  he  opened  his  mouth  the  same 
ones  who  had  been  cheering  so  loud  at  once  began  to 
groan  for  John  Bull  and  cheer  for  Daniel  Webster  and 
the  Union.  He  couldn't  say  a  word,  and  after  standing 
on  the  platform  for  half  an  hour  and  sitting  for  another 
hour  he  concluded  to  go.  Abby  Folsom  from  the  gal- 
lery succeeded  in  getting  off  something  about  woman's 
rights  and  was  loudly  applauded.  About  half  a  dozen 
speakers  came  to  the  platform  among  whom  were  Theo- 
dore Parker  and  Frederic  Douglass,  but  they  were  quickly 
put  down.  I  was  on  the  steps  next  the  platform  and 
could  see  all  that  was  going  on  without  being  incom- 
moded at  all.  There  seemed  to  be  a  very  merry  spirit 
among  the  rowdies  determined  to  hurt  nobody  but  to 
put  down  all  the  speakers.  They  succeeded  so  well  that 
at  9  o'clock  the  meeting  adjourned  to  Worcester,  but 
the  Hall  could  not  be  cleared  until  the  police  turned  off 
the  gas  and  put  out  the  lights." 


IN  SALEM  AND  AT  HARVARD  147 

Even  the  studies  of  a  college  boy  are  interesting  if 
he  comes  to  something  out  of  the  common  later  in  life. 
Joseph  writes  his  father: 

"I  send  in  the  valise,  the  'Tabular  view  of  the  Reci- 
tations' for  next  year,  as  it  contains  a  full  explanation 
of  the  system  of  Electives.  My  intention  to  study  Latin 
and  Spanish  is  entirely  knocked  in  the  head,  as  they 
come  in  the  same  hour.  We  have  the  privilege,  as  you 
will  see,  of  taking  an  extra  elective  in  addition  to  the 
one  required,  but  as  in  that  case  the  recitations  in  them 
would  come  on  successive  hours  in  the  afternoon,  and 
there  would  not  be  time  to  prepare  both  properly,  I  think 
it  best  to  take  only  one.  Besides,  though  we  should  get 
no  marks  for  the  second,  we  should  be  obliged  to  attend 
and  recite,  all  the  same  as  if  we  did.  The  Greek  and  Ger- 
man I  have  no  fancy  for  either,  and  as  I  don't  feel  com- 
petent  in  Mathematics  I  come  back  to  the  Latin  and  Span- 
ish. I  should  be  very  unwilling  to  lose  the  knowledge 
of  Latin,  which  I  have  already  acquired,  and  at  the  same 
time  should  like  very  much  to  take  hold  of  the  Spanish. 
But,  I  think,  that  not  taking  Latin  as  an  elective,  I  should 
still  by  myself  continue  to  read  it,  and  thus  retain  an 
acquaintance  with  it,  sufficient  for  all  practical  purposes, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  great  difficulty  of  getting  so  good 
marks  in  this  department.  On  the  whole  then  I  should 
prefer  to  take  Spanish  as  my  elective,  not  indeed  throw- 
ing the  Latin  entirely  aside.  If  the  arrangements  were 
different,  I  should  be  glad  to  take  both,  but  now  it  is 
impossible.  Please  to  let  me  know  next  week,  if  you 
approve  of  my  choice,  if  not  what  you  prefer  for  me. 
Of  course  William  will  take  Mathematics,  he  really 
seems  to  enjoy  it.  .  .  . 


i48  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"Whatever  elective  I  take,  there  will  certainly  be  no 
trouble  on  the  ground  of  not  having  enough  to  do,  as 
we  are  to  have  five  recitations  a  week  in  Mental  Philos- 
ophy and  three  each  in  Physics  and  History,  besides 
Themes  and  Forensic,  and  Lectures." 

How  the  pen  of  Joseph  the  collegian  disported  itself 
in  intimate  communications  with  his  classmates  appears 
in  a  letter  dated  Cambridge,  March  10,  1852,  to  William 
C.  Williamson: 

"My  dear  Bill, 

"Right  glad  was  I  this  morning,  when  on  my  accus- 
tomed round,  I  came  upon  the  yellow  banner  of  the  Post- 
master, and  discovered  my  name  among  the  rest  inscribed 
thereon.  Full  high  and  long  did  this  little  heart  leap 
for  joy,  when  the  cadaverous  clerk  thrust  forth  from  the 
grating  of  his  prison,  the  despatch  from  Belfast.  Much 
doubt  had  arisen  in  the  minds  of  your  anxious  friends, 
and  we  had  begun  to  fear  the  combined  effect  of  your 
labors  in  the  cause  of  education,  and  your  quiet  suffer- 
ing for  the  sake  of  temperance,  had  proved  too  much 
for  your  feeble  constitution;  at  least  your  long  silence 
argued  as  much,  and  your  friends  were  preparing  for 
action.  The  plan  was  to  charter  a  sloop,  and  despatch 
it  to  bring  you  back  alive  or  dead  from  that  horrid  State 
of  Maine.  But  now  that  we  know  all  about  you,  the 
tide  of  popular  feeling  has  turned,  and  torrents  of  abuse 
are  poured  out  upon  your  unconscious  head.  'Why  has 
he  gone  and  left  us?  Why  don't  the  wretch  come  back? 
Of  hope  he  has  bereft  us.  AH  comfort  now  we  lack.' 
Do  dear  pull  up  stakes  and  come  on !  here  we  are,  all 
ravenous  to  embrace  your  beloved  form,  wasted,  though 
it  be  by  care  and  sorrow. 


IN  SALEM  AND  AT  HARVARD  149 

"Well,  Bill,  the  fourth  of  March  came  round  and 
found  us  all  together.  The  E.  E.  H.  [East  Entry  of  Hal- 
worthy]  wanted  but  you  to  complete  the  circle  which 
gathered  around  a  fire  of  cheerful  cannel,  in  H'y  22.  First 
there  was  the  patriarchal  Dana,  who  had  spent  seven 
weeks  in  vain,  in  trying  to  enliven  the  quiet  hamlet  of 
Brandon,  strange  to  say,  without  losing  any  of  his  wonted 
jollity  and  facetiousness.  Coolidge  and  Norris  had  just 
arrived  from  Brooklyn,  where  they  had  been  making 
a  short  visit  with  the  good  natured  Fam.  whose  little 
belly,  by  the  way,  is  if  anything  a  grain  more  plump 
than  ever,  but  the  whole  trio  seemed  to  my  eye  a  little 
worn  down  and  exhausted  by  a  fortnight's  dissipation. 
Then  there  were  Stedman  and  Bob,  growling  over  the 
tedious  dulness,  of  what  to  us  country  boys  is  the  ever 
active  and  changing  Boston.  Bill  once  more  joined 
his  demure  but  comfortable  countenance  to  the  growing 
throng.  And  as  the  donkey  will  show  his  ears,  so  the 
old  alligator  rattled  his  tail,  and  gave  vent  to  several 
jibes  about  MuIIer  and  Phnaw!  Cooke.  Everybody 
had  something  to  tell,  and  when  the  last  had  given  his 
account,  we  all  half  voluntarily  turned  about  to  look 
for  you,  and  hear  what  cheer  from  Belfast. 

"So  met  the  East  entry,  unchanged  and  unchangeable, 
and  outside  of  us,  in  the  College  at  large,  things  go  pretty 
much  the  same  as  ever.  Methought  the  nose  of  Bonney 
bent  over  a  little  more  immodestly,  and  Addison's  hand, 
which  I  grasped  with  hysterical  affection,  (when  he  thrust 
it  forth,)  distilled  more  dewy  moisture  than  before.  But 
with  these  slight  exceptions,  perhaps  the  fruit  only  of 
my  fancy,  the  College  that  we  left  in  January  has  turned 
up  again  in  March,  and  we  hardly  seem  to  have  been 
away." 


150  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

J.  H.  C  to  W.  C.  W. 

"In  regard  to  our  studies,  however,  some  changes 
have  been  effected,  changes,  I  think,  for  the  better.  In 
the  first  place,  we  have  seen  nothing  as  yet  of  the  affable 
Lovering,  whose  ghastly  eyes  always  seemed  to  me,  like 
the  serpent's,  to  fascinate  his  victims,  and  wrung  out 
the  Physics,  whether  they  would  or  no.  Really,  this  is 
a  great  relief.  That  little  humbug,  Child,  has  no  longer 
an  opportunity  to  scatter  Whately's  Logic,  and  his  own 
outlandish  gibberish  over  our  unoffending  class.  For 
this,  too,  we  may  thank  the  Gods.  But  then — there  is 
Jennison,  more  fatty  than  philosopher,  has  undertaken 
to  teach  us  the  great  principles  of  Political  Economy,  as 
they  are  developed  in  'Wayland's  Elements.'  Butler, 
too,  is  a  little  different  from  anything  we  have  had  be- 
fore. The  electives,  of  course,  are  the  same.  In  regard 
to  the  lectures,  all  through  the  week,  I  might  say  in  the 
emphatic  language  of  the  Psalmist, 

"  'Hills  peep  o'er  hills,  and  Alps  on  Alps  arise!'  On 
the  whole,  the  tabular  view  seems  to  promise  a  very  com- 
fortable time,  and  you  will  not  be  much  pressed,  should 
you  persevere  in  your  laudable  resolution,  to  make  up. 

"I  said  on  the  last  page,  that  men  and  manners  have 
not  changed,  but  one  thing  I  forgot.  Whiskers  are  the 
order  of  the  day.  Rogers  and  Canfield,  Dana  and  Carey, 
Haven  and  Hill,  Wheeler  and  Stickney,  have  got  brist- 
ling hair  enough  upon  their  chins  and  cheeks,  to  stuff  a 
mattress  or  a  bridal  bed.  So  that,  if  you  have  any  idea 
of  coming  back  with  those  downy  tendrils  in  which  you 
once  luxuriated,  I  warn  you  now  to  be  prepared  for  a 
most  vigorous  competition  on  the  part  of  the  aforesaid 
band  of  brigands. 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE  AT  THE  AGE  OF  TWENTY. 


From  a  daguerreotype  taken  at  the  time  of  his  graduation  in  1852. 
Harvard  Library  at  Cambridge. 


The  original  is  in  the 


IN  SALEM  AND  AT  HARVARD  151 

"The  Western  Reservers  have  come  Oh!  Ho!  and 
three  of  them,  miserabile  dictu,  are  Alpha  Deltas.  I  ex- 
press regret,  not  because  we  need  be  ashamed  of  them, 
for  there  is  nothing  about  them  that  savors  of  a  Justus 
Smith,  but  because,  coming  at  this  late  day,  we  cannot 
treat  them  so  cordially  nor  feel  so  fraternally,  as  they 
might  expect  of  us. 

"I  know,  my  dear  Bill,  that  whatever  is,  is  right,  and 
suppose  that  you  know  what  is  best  for  yourself,  but  I 
can  assure  you,  that  your  return  tomorrow  would  call 
out  prolonged  cheering  from  the  East  entry,  and  do  no 
small  good  to 

Your  affectionate  Friend, 

J.  H.  Choate." 

"P.  S.     Dana  seems  to  be  all  right. 

"P.  S.  Brother  Coolidge  sends  oceans  of  love  and 
Waring  and  Norris  torrents  of  affections  and  C.  and  N. 
are  going  to  write  you." 

Truly  a  full  and  fluent  flow  of  the  undergraduate  soul, 
appalling  in  the  irreverence  to  teachers  who  later  came 
to  high  distinction  in  their  profession,  but  not  much  more 
irreverent  than  undergraduates  are  wont  to  be.  Other 
letters  to  the  same  friend,  written  while  the  writer  was 
a  law  student  in  Cambridge,  give  the  news  of  classmates, 
including  the  engagements  to  marry  and  comments  on 
them,  the  gossip  of  their  undergraduate  club,  and  finally 
ot  times  strong  and  very  breezy  views  on  politics,  in- 
cluding in  one  letter  dated  March,  1854,  a  spirited  report 
of  "Mr.  Everett's  contemptible  conduct  in  the  Senate," 
especially  in  the  matter  of  a  motion  of  the  New  Eng- 
land clergymen  against  the  Nebraska  Bill. 


i52  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"It  has  been  my  duty/'  he  tells  Williamson  in  one 
of  these  garrulous  epistles,  "to  break  to  Norris,  with  as 
much  caution  and  tenderness  as  I  could,  another  an- 
nouncement which  may  be  as  great  a  shock  to  you  as 
to  him,  that  the  identical  Totty,  who  used  to  stir  a  com- 
mon flame  in  both  your  hearts,  and  was  the  subject  of 
such  furious  and  jealous  contention  between  you  on  the 
morrow  after  every  party,  has  been  carried  off  by  some 
strange  young  man  who  isn't  so  much  as  known  by  name 
to  the  good  people  of  the  place.  I  can  only  remind  you 
as  I  did  him  that  all  earthly  hopes  are  frail,  and  that 
there  are  but  few  human  friends  who  will  not  forget  you." 

"Dear  Bill,"  he  writes  in  April,  1854,  two  years  after 
graduation : 

"With  no  very  easy  flow  of  ideas,  and  with  no  very 
great  stock  of  news,  I  nevertheless  make  bold  to  dedicate 
this  sheet  and  this  hour  to  you. 

"Have  the  denizens  of  Belfast  been  enveloped  in  fog 
and  devoured  by  a  ravaging  East  Wind  for  the  last  ten 
days  or  more  ?  Have  you  been  shut  out  from  the  pleasant 
light  of  the  sun  all  that  time,  and  been  hovering  and 
shivering  over  a  huge  coal  fire  meanwhile;  in  the  last 
half  of  April  too,  when  we  have  a  right  to  be  enjoying 
the  balmy  breezes,  and  fitful  showers,  and  pleasant  sun- 
shine of  awakening  Spring?  If  you  have,  you  can  realize 
and  sympathize  with  my  feelings  this  afternoon,  and 
will  not  read  on  with  any  hope  of  finding  anything  genial, 
anything  amusing,  anything,  in  fact,  worth  reading  on 
for  at  all.  I  went  to  church  this  morning  and  thereby 
passed  a  very  stupid  hour,  from  which  I  have  not  fairly 
recovered.  How  it  damps  one's  spirit  to  hear  Dr.  Francis 
or  any  of  his  Cambridge  contemporaries  preach.    When 


IN  SALEM  AND  AT  HARVARD  153 

men  who  have  such  rare  opportunities  for  eloquence  and 
such  themes  as  one  would  think  ought  to  rouse  their 
whole  souls  to  their  labors,  are  yet  content  to  plod  on 
in  the  same  dead  and  dreadful  way,  Sunday  after  Sun- 
day, year  in  and  year  out,  as  many  of  our  Christian 
Preachers  do,  it  sometimes  makes  one  think  more  meanly 
of  the  race  to  which  he  belongs.' ' 

Joseph  in  his  youth  was  hard  to  suit  with  preaching. 
He  sat  under  it  with  fair  persistence,  but,  as  we  shall  find 
in  later  letters,  seldom  rose  up  to  praise  the  preacher. 

His  college  years,  his  two  years  in  the  Harvard  Law 
School  that  followed,  and  the  third  year  in  the  office 
of  Hodges  and  Saltonstall  in  Boston,  which  was  neces- 
sary to  qualify  him  for  admission  to  the  Massachusetts 
bar,  have  all  been  described  by  himself  in  the  pages  fore- 
going about  his  boyhood  and  youth.  Therein  he  also 
tells  briefly  of  the  journey  West  with  his  brother  William, 
which  seemed  a  proper  capstone  to  their  completed  edu- 
cation. Going  to  New  York  on  September  27,  1855,  ne 
and  William  put  up  as  much  as  possible  at  the  St.  Nicholas 
Hotel,  which  had  no  room  for  them,  but  yielded  in  the 
course  of  the  day  to  solicitations  of  their  classmates  War- 
ing and  Norris  to  come  over  to  Brooklyn,  where  they 
were  hospitably  entertained.  Joseph  writes  his  mother: 
"After  two  days  spent  here  mostly  in  circulating  pretty 
freely  among  the  young  lawyers,  I  am  still  more  con- 
vinced that  New  York  is  the  place  for  me.  I  was  kindly 
received  by  Mr.  Evarts  who  said  that  Mr.  [Rufus] 
Choate  had  had  some  conversation  with  him  about  me 
some  time  ago.  His  office  is  at  present  more  than  full, 
but  he  kindly  offers  to  do  all  he  can  to  find  me  a  place 
elsewhere  when  I  return  from  the  West.     He  says  there 


154  JOSEPH- HODGES  CHOATE 

is  nothing  in  the  way  of  one  who  is  willing  to  work 
here." 

More  follows  about  other  things  and  at  the  end  is  a 
postscript:  "Tell  Carrie  that  cracked  wheat  is  a  staple 
commodity  here,  and  that  a  sequence  does  not  count 
when  there  is  a  Go-between/' 

The  day  boat  to  Albany  did  not  run,  so  they  took  the 
night  boat,  "and  shall  have,"  writes  Joseph,  "the  view 
of  the  Hudson  by  moonlight  which  is  said  to  be  its  most 
delightful  aspect."  It  is  a  fortunately  constituted  mind 
to  which  the  next  best  thing  looks  best.  They  spent 
several  hours  examining  Utica.  Thence  to  Buffalo  and 
Niagara,  the  observation  of  which  and  of  the  further 
wonders  of  this  journey  Joseph  communicates  as  fol- 
lows: 

"Dear  Mother,  "Detroit'  0ct"  3d  l8^ 

"You  will  doubtless  be  happy  to  hear  that  having 
safely  crossed  Lake  Erie,  without  accident  or  the  fear 
of  it,  we  have  arrived  in  good  condition  at  Detroit,  where 
we  are  now  ensconced  in  close  but  not  uncomfortable 
quarters  at  the  National  Hotel. 

"Nothing  could  have  been  more  delightful  than  our 
experience  of  the  last  five  days.  In  that  short  period 
we  have  seen  Lizzie  Carlile,  Niagara,  and  the  second  of 
the  great  inland  lakes,  and  I  must  say  that  I  was  dis- 
appointed in  all  three.  I  had  formed  some  conception 
of  each  of  them  a  priori,  but  the  first  is  more  of  a  woman, 
the  second  more  of  a  waterfall,  and  the  last  more  of  a 
sea  than  I  had  expected  to  find. 

"William  says  that  he  gave  you  a  full  account  of  our 
pleasant  visit  to  Utica,  and  so  has  anticipated  all  that 


IN  SALEM  AND  AT  HARVARD  155 

I  could  have  said.  Our  stay  at  Niagara  was  as  satis- 
factory as  wind  and  weather  would  permit.  During 
the  three  days  we  passed  there,  there  wasn't  a  single 
half  hour  of  clear  sunlight,  but  nevertheless  we  managed 
I  to  explore  its  most  obscure  recesses  as  well  as  its  more 
renowned  localities,  and  departed  with  a  clear  impres- 
sion of  its  scenery  which  it  will  take  many  a  year  to  ef- 
face. William  is  the  best  pathfinder  I  ever  have  known, 
and  phrenologically  speaking  his  bumps  of  direction  and 
distance  must  be  fully  developed.  During  the  first  fore- 
noon, which  was  rainy,  he  got  hold  of  a  map  of  the 
premises  and  before  dinner  time  he  knew  it  all  by  heart. 
So  that  in  one  afternoon's  progress  he  located  all  the 
points  of  interest,  calling  them  by  their  names,  and  point- 
ing out  their  peculiarities  as  well  as  the  oldest  veteran 
of  the  native  guides  could  have  done.  When  you  come 
to  Niagara  you  will  find  his  services  as  an  escort  in- 
valuable, and  I  advise  you  not  to  leave  him  behind. 

"The  Plymouth  Rock  in  which  we  took  passage  from 
Buffalo  is  a  steamer  of  more  magnificent  pretensions  than 
you  would  have  thought  to  find  anywhere  but  on  the 
Atlantic.  The  night  was  clear  and  the  winds  were  still,  so 
that  until  daylight  we  slept  in  peace.  But  this  morning 
when  we  were  fairly  out  of  sight  of  land  on  either  side, 
the  wind  got  a  little  higher  and  the  sea  a  little  rougher, 
and  seasickness  became  an  epidemic  on  board.  Norfolk 
and  Portsmouth  in  the  most  mortal  hour  of  the  recent 
scourge  could  hardly  have  presented  a  scene  of  more 
general  and  miserable  prostration  than  the  cabin  of  the 
Plymouth  Rock  exhibited  after  breakfast  today.  W's 
sympathetic  nature  fell  a  victim  for  a  brief  hour  or  two, 
but  soon  recovered.  My  experience  in  the  matter  of 
the  Mumps  has  convinced  me  that  there  is  no  preventa- 


156  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

tive  against  those  little  complaints  so  good  as  making 
up  one's  mind  against  them.  So  having  got  up  to  see 
the  sun  rise,  I  eat  a  hearty  breakfast,  and  boldly  but 
successfully  defied  the  disease. 

"We  arrived  here  at  about  three  o'clock  this  after- 
noon, and  don't  like  the  looks  of  the  place  at  all.  Just 
now  it  happens  to  be  the  scene  of  the  State  Cattle  Show, 
which  makes  it  worse.  However,  it  is  no  mean  city,  it  con- 
tains fifty  thousand  inhabitants  (twice  as  many  as  it  had 
five  years  ago)  and  claims  to  be  a  great  place  for  business. 

"Tomorrow  at  nine  we  shall  start  for  Chicago,  where 
we  expect  to  make  a  longer  stay,  and  see  the  boasted 
wonders  of  the  place. 

"On  arriving  here  we  got  your  letter,  which  gladdened 
our  eyes  as  much  as  this  can  yours,  and  we  long  to  reach 
Milwaukee,  where  we  may  find  something  more  from 
home. 

"William  has  gone  to  bed,  where  it  is  already  time  for 
me  to  join  him.  So  wishing  you  all  good  luck  until  we 
meet,  I  am,  your  loving  son,  J.  H.  Choate." 

"Dubuque,  Iowa,  Oct.  9th,  1855. 
"Dear  Mother, 

"At  last  we  have  crossed  the  Mississippi,  and  shall 
go  no  further  West.  Dubuque  is  a  city  of  10  or  12  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  and  is  very  rapidly  increasing.  Busi- 
ness here  seems  to  be  very  thriving,  and  for  that  matter 
we  have  not  yet  found  any  place  in  the  West  where  a 
young  lawyer  would  be  likely  to  make  so  little  money 
as  at  home.  Still  there  is  nothing  very  attractive  about 
the  place  for  one  who  has  some  other  wants  than  mere 
money-making,  and  we  only  wait  the  arrival  of  some 
Steamboat  or  stage  to  take  us  down  to  Davenport,  which 


IN  SALEM  AND  AT  HARVARD  157 

though  it  seems  close  to  Dubuque  upon  the  map,  is  really 
120  miles  distant. 

"We  left  Milwaukee  early  on  Monday  morning  and 
spent  the  night  at  Rockford  in  the  neighborhood  of  which 
many  Salem  people  have  established  themselves.  Being 
detained  there  all  yesterday  forenoon  by  some  misunder- 
standing about  the  cars,  we  took  a  horse  and  wagon  and 
drove  out  upon  the  prairie  and  down  the  West  Side  of 
Rock  River  in  that  region  so  famous  for  its  fertility  even 
in  the  fertile  West,  and  came  back  more  fully  impressed 
than  ever  with  the  absurdity  of  attempting  to  cultivate 
the  barren  rocks  of  old  Essex  when  there  are  such  Golden 
lands  for  farmers  here.  We  have  come  across  a  great 
many  natives  of  Massachusetts  who  have  emigrated  in 
former  years  and  they  all  speak  with  the  same  abhorrence 
of  going  back  to  the  East  to  live.  They  are  all  growing 
rich  so  fast. 

"Last  night  we  came  up  to  Dunleith,  a  huge  city 
upon  paper,  but  containing  in  reality  only  two  hotels 
and  the  same  number  of  railroad  stations.  Part  of  our 
route  was  over  the  Illinois  Central  Road,  upon  which 
the  amount  of  travel  is  immense.  Five  or  six  long  pas- 
senger cars  full  are  no  uncommon  thing. 

"The  Mississippi  is  very  much  like  any  other  river, 
only  bigger,  and  presents  at  this  place  quite  a  lively  scene. 
Two  steam  ferries  are  constantly  running  across  within 
a  mile  of  us,  and  a  third  half  under  water  on  a  snag  in 
the  middle.  Several  large  boats  have  already  passed 
up  since  we  have  been  waiting  but  unfortunately  for  us 
none  has  yet  come  down.  The  water  in  the  river  is 
said  to  be  higher  than  has  been  known  at  this  season 
before  for  twenty  years,  and  several  wood  and  lumber 
yards  are  quite  submerged. 


i$8  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"The  only  real  Salemite  we  have  seen  since  we  left 
home  was  a  young  negro  barber  at  the  station  at  Rock- 
ford,  a  son  of  Andrew  Williams,  who  has  pursued  the 
same  profession  from  time  immemorial  down  by  the 
Eastern  Railroad  depot.  With  him  we  fraternized  as 
cordially  as  possible,  and  William  comes  home  charged 
with  messages  of  affection  to  his  brother  there. 

"Time  has  flown  so  fast  with  us,  and  we  have  been 
gone  so  long  that  I  hardly  think  we  shall  extend  our  jour- 
ney to  St.  Louis,  but  having  seen  the  wonders  of  Daven- 
port, and  gone  down  the  River  to  Burlington  shall  go 
from  there  to  Cincinnati  and  thence  make  rapid  tracks 
for  New  York.  Excepting  our  little  note  at  Detroit  we 
have  received  nothing  from  home,  but  trusting  that  you 
are  all  well  and  happy,  I  am, 

Your  affectionate  son, 

J.  H.  Choate." 

"Buffalo,  N.  Y.  Oct.  18th,  1855. 
"Dear  Mother, 

"You  may  be  a  little  surprised  at  hearing  from  us  at 
this  place,  but  on  arriving  at  Cincinnati,  we  hesitated 
some  time  between  the  Philadelphia  route  and  this,  and 
decided  to  come  by  the  way  of  Cleveland.  So  here  we 
are  within  fifteen  hours'  ride  of  New  York,  for  which 
we  shall  start  on  the  express  train  at  eight  o'clock  to- 
morrow morning. 

"With  Cincinnati,  where  we  spent  nearly  two  days, 
we  were  very  much  pleased.  Of  course  the  chief  lion 
of  the  place  for  us  was  Professor  Conner,  whom  we  found 
surrounded  by  miracles  of  art,  as  usual,  in  'the  Academy,' 
looking  somewhat  old  and  dilapidated  to  be  sure,  but 
still  as  great  as  ever  in  his  way.     It  seems  that  Mr.  C. 


IN  SALEM  AND  AT  HARVARD  159 

has  been  sending  letters  and  newspapers  in  perfect  showers 
upon  various  members  of  our  family  ever  since  he  left 
Salem,  and  the  wonder  is  that  so  few  of  them  were  ever 
received.  He  had  concluded  that  we  had  agreed  to  cut 
his  acquaintance  and  so  was  not  a  little  startled  at  see- 
ing us  march  into  'the  Rooms.'  I  think  from  appearances 
that  his  position  and  fortunes  were  much  improved  by 
going  West.  He  has  all  the  best  pupils  in  his  line  of  art 
in  Cincinnati,  and  owns  the  best  farm  on  the  Ohio  River 
within  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  the  City.  He  per- 
sisted in  showing  us  all  over  creation,  and  under  his 
guidance  we  went  over  the  River  to  Covington,  within 
the  borders  of  Kentucky.  We  saw  a  very  little  of  the 
peculiar  institution,  and  for  aught  I  could  see  the  soil 
of  Slavery  felt  just  the  same  beneath  our  feet  as  that 
which  we  have  always  trod. 

"Ever  since  we  left  Niagara  the  weather  has  been 
wonderfully  fine,  and  whether  it  be  Western  brag  or 
not  we  cannot  tell,  but  everybody  says  that  it  continues 
just  the  same  through  all  the  regions  we  have  journeyed 
in  till  Christmas.  Certainly  nothing  could  be  more  whole- 
some and  charming,  or  in  more  striking  contrast  to  the 
Climate  out  of  which  we  came.  Almost  all  the  roads 
over  which  we  have  passed  have  been  very  free  from 
dust  and  we  have  had  no  difficulty  whatever  with  our 
baggage.  In  fact  our  trunks,  but  for  a  little  necessary 
chafing,  are  as  sound  as  when  we  started. 

"William  thinks  he  shall  be  at  home  very  early  next 
week.  What  will  become  of  me  remains  to  be  seen.  I 
don't  much  expect  to  come  home  before  Thanksgiving 
but  can  tell  all  about  it  better  after  getting  to  New  York. 
As  I  have  now  definitely  concluded  to  settle  there,  of 
course  the  sooner  I  get  to  work  the  better. 


160  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"The  Western  Mails  are  so  irregular  that  I  fear  some 
of  our  letters  may  have  failed  to  reach  you.  At  any  rate 
you  may  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  such  as 
they  were,  we  despatched  them  regularly,  as  you  desired. 

"With  much  love  to  you  all,  and  many  congratula- 
tions to  Carrie  upon  having  reached  her  majority  and 
come  into  her  fortune,  I  am, 

Your  loving  son,        j   R  Chqate  „ 


CHAPTER   II 

EARLY  DAYS  IN  NEW  YORK 

IN  MR.  EVARTS's  OFFICE — NEW  YEAR'S  CALLS — SNOW — SOCIAL  LIFE — 
CORRUPTION  OF  CITY  GOVERNMENT — EDWARD  EVERETT^  ORATION 
ON  WASHINGTON — FIRST  FEES — POLITICAL  ACTIVITIES — JOINS  A 
FREMONT  CLUB — A  STATE  MILITIAMAN — SPEAKER  IN  FREMONT 
CAMPAIGN — PANIC  OF  '57 — A  CHRISTIAN-SOCIALIST  CELEBRATION — 
STARTS  OUT  FOR  HIMSELF — BECOMES  A  PARTNER  OF  MR.   EVARTS 

Back  in  New  York  he  goes  about  his  new  business 
without  delay.  His  letters,  chiefly  to  his  mother,  tell 
the  story  of  his  first  years  in  the  city  of  his  preference. 
He  sees  it  with  the  vividness  of  eyes  to  which  all  its  aspects 
are  new.  The  new  reporter  on  the  newspaper  is  struck 
with  sights  that  the  old  reporters  no  longer  notice,  and 
he  can  all  the  better  report  them.  Joseph  was  the 
new  reporter  in  New  York,  and  in  his  weekly  letters  to 
his  mother  he  fairly  laid  himself  out  to  give  entertain- 
ment. These  are  no  grudging  scraps  of  correspondence. 
They  are  real  letters  from  an  affectionate  and  attentive 
son  to  a  mother  whose  care  for  him  he  recognizes. 

But  the  first  is  to  his  father: 


"Dear  Father,  "New  York'  °Ct-  2*th'  l8^ 

"Contrary  to  my  expectations  Mr.  Evarts  has  found 
it  convenient  to  make  room  for  me  in  his  office,  and  as 
he  seems  disposed  to  favor  me,  and  as  it  is  considered 
a  first  rate  place  to  learn  in  I  shall  go  in  there  in  a  few 
days.    Meantime  he  has  set  me  to  work  reading  the  code, 

161 


162  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

for  which  I  find  abundant  conveniences  in  Waring's* 
office.  For  the  first  three  months,  of  course,  I  can  ex- 
pect no  compensation  for  my  services  because,  from  my 
ignorance  of  practise,  they  will  be  worth  nothing.  After 
that,  however,  if  they  do  not  find  employment  for  me 
there,  I  think  I  shall  without  difficulty  find  it  elsewhere. 
AH  the  young  men  who  have  graduated  from  there  are 
now  succeeding  well. 

"My  first  duty  on  Monday  was  to  hunt  up  a  board- 
ing house,  which  I  fortunately  found  before  noon.  It 
is  Mrs.  Ruton's  house  in  Bleecker  St.,  corner  of  Thomp- 
son, about  a  mile  and  three  quarters  from  Wall  St.,  which 
you  will  consider  a  very  wholesome  distance.  I  am  to 
pay  $5.00  per  week,  at  the  end  of  every  month,  for  my 
present  accommodations  which  consist  of  very  excellent 
board,  a  nice  bed  room  and  ample  conveniences  for  bath- 
ing. The  only  difficulty  is  that  my  room  is  the  smallest 
conceivable,  altogether  too  diminutive  for  my  purposes 
during  the  winter.  But  in  the  course  of  a  week  or  two 
Mrs.  R.  expects  to  make  some  changes  and  to  have  some 
larger  rooms  vacant,  when  by  paying  50  cts.  or  a  dollar 
more  per  week  I  shall  move  into  one  with  which  I  can 
get  along.  This  morning  I  have  been  in  hot  pursuit  of 
a  washerwoman  and  have  found  one  close  to  the  house, 
who  is  to  do  for  me  for  $2.00  or  $2.50  per  month,  accord- 
ing to  the  work.  These  arrangements  have  all  been  made 
with  despatch,  but  I  trust  they  will  suit  your  views.  With 
regard  to  expense  I  think  them  as  reasonable  as  you  could 
have  expected  and  as  to  the  comfort  I  am  agreeably  dis- 
appointed. At  any  rate,  now  that  I  have  got  a  foothold 
I  shall  be  constantly  on  the  look-out  and  shall  let  slip 
no  opportunity  to  better  my  condition. 

*  William  H.  Waring,  a  classmate. 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  163 

"Yesterday  I  called  upon  your  friend  Mr.  Emerson 
who  received  me  kindly,  gave  me  a  cordial  invitation  to 
his  house,  and  recommended  me  to  go  into  Mr.  Evarts's 
office,  in  whatever  capacity. 

"  Last  evening  I  spent  very  pleasantly  at  Mr.  Carlile's, 
and  am  going  to  church  with  them  on  Sunday. 

"At  Mrs.  Ruton's  I  found  to  my  surprise  Addison 
Brown  and  Charles  Dewey  whom  William  will  remember 
at  Cambridge. 

"For  these  few  months  I  expect  to  feel  very  lonely 
and  disconsolate  but  shall  now  and  ever  expect  a  great 
deal  of  love  and  encouragement  from  home. 
I  am  your  obdt  &  loving  son. 

J.  H.  Choate." 

"P.  S.  I  have  just  got  your  letter  to  Dr.  Stone  of 
which  I  shall  make  a  speedy  use." 

«  tv yr  u  "  New  York,  Oct.  3 1  st,  1 855. 

My  dear  Mother.  °  ** 

"I  received  your  kind  letter  yesterday  and  I  can  as- 
sure you  it  gladdened  my  heart.  There  is  nothing  here 
that  interests  me  so  much  as  a  word  of  good  cheer  from 
home. 

"I  am  still  in  Waring's  office  at  work  upon  the  code 
which  must  be  mastered,  or  partly  so  at  least,  before 
any  other  steps  can  be  taken.  Probably  Mr.  Evarts 
will  send  for  me  some  day  this  week,  possibly  not  till 
next.    Meantime  I  am  as  well  off  here  as  there. 

"My  boarding  house  improves  upon  acquaintance. 
There  are  about  seventy  boarders  among  them  and  some 
excellent  people  too.  It  takes  one  some  time  to  get  used 
to  New  York  hours,  and  at  first  dining  at  six  didn't  seem 
to  me  like  dining  at  all.     But  now  I  like  it  better  and 


164  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

though   I  get  slightly  cadaverous  about  noon-time,   I 
easily  get  over  that  by  taking  a  slight  lunch. 

"The  amount  of  exercise  we  get  here  without  knowing 
it  is  astonishing.  I  think  I  haven't  walked  less  than 
six  miles  any  day  thus  far. 

"As  to  my  expenses  I  am  to  pay  $5.50  for  my  room 
and  board  and  something  more  for  fire  and  lights.  But 
the  room  being  quite  small  the  fire  bill  cannot  be  very 
large,  especially  as  I  am  only  here  in  the  evening.  Then 
there  is  the  washing  of  which  I  told  you  before,  and  a 
trifle  for  a  meagre  lunch,  which  ends  the  list  of  absolute 
necessities,  except  clothes,  so  that  the  sum  proposed 
by  father  (forty  dollars)  will  be  a  very  abundant  allow- 
ance, and  will  cover  all  that  great  article  of  'sundries' 
which  everybody  spends  money  for  and  nobody  knows 
how. 

"I  shall  want  at  once  to  invest  a  portion  of  my  own 
little  fortune  in  a  few  law  books,  which  no  one  can  get 
along  without,  but  have  bought  the  first  one  already 
which  will  last  me  for  some  weeks. 

"People  here  are  getting  quite  excited  on  politics, 
but  I  don't  know  enough  about  parties  here  to  under- 
stand them,  and  as  the  party  that  I  belong  to  has  died 
out  here,  I  don't  care  a  fig  which  beats. 

"Last   evening   I   called   upon  our   friend   Gibbons's 
family,  and  found  it  a  very  delightful  one. 
In  haste,  your  loving  son. 

J.  H.  Choate." 


"Deak  Mother,  "New  Yoik>  Dec'  8'  l8^ 

"It  is  Sunday  evening  and  I  have  just  returned  from 
Dr.  Osgood's  church.     None  of  the  Carliles  were  there 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  165 

this  evening,  partly  I  suppose  because  of  the  rain  and 
partly  because  they  are  suffering  from  colds,  or  were, 
jat  any  rate,  on  Friday  evening  when  I  called  at  their 
house.  I  stopped  there  then,  being  on  my  way  to  Mrs. 
Gibbons's  in  29th  St.  where  I  had  been  invited  to  a  little 
gathering,  but  where  I  found  myself  in  the  midst  of  an 
assembly  called  together  and  taking  measures  for  the 
relief  of  Fugitive  Slaves  passing  through  New  York, 
in  which  scheme  of  philanthropy  I  can't  feel  so  much 
interested  as  some  others.  .  .  . 

"Nothing  particularly  interesting  has  happened  in 
New  York  this  week — the  usual  chapter  of  accidents 
and  affrays — the  usual  number  of  discoveries  of  corrup- 
tion in  the  city  government — the  trial  of  a  murderer,  an 
ordinary  occurrence,  but  this  time  a  noted  case;  Baker, 
the  man  who  shot  the  notorious  Bill  Poole  last  summer 
in  a  Saloon  on  Broadway,  being  on  trial,  which  creates 
a  good  deal  of  excitement  among  the  lower  orders  of 
society  because  it  grew  out  of  a  quarrel  between  Amer- 
icans and  Irish,  and  Poole's  last  words  were  'I  die  an 
American' — great  political  banquets,  rejoicing  over  the 
late  election — great  ecclesiastical  conferences  rejoicing 
over  nobody  knows  what — great  meetings  of  merchants 
and  bankers — great  ships  coming  in  and  going  out  almost 
without  number — great  speculations  in  everything — an 
infinite  amount  of  business  for  everybody  that  is  fit  and 
ready  to  do  it — and  all  the  while,  from  Monday  morning 
to  Saturday  night,  this  same  incessant  rush  and  com- 
motion which  must  have  impressed  you  so  forcibly  as 
it  does  every  stranger,  and  which  indicates  the  pros- 
perity of  the  city  and  citizens.  .  .  . 

"Mr.  Evarts  came  up  in  search  of  me  on  Friday,  and 
invited  me  to  come  and  dine  with  him  yesterday — which 


166  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

I  did  to  my  great  satisfaction.  He  has  got  a  fine  house 
in  17th  St.  and  in  it  a  very  beautiful  library,  and  a  very 
comfortable  wife — a  sturdy  Vermonter  with  five  or  six 
little  children.  Saturday  night  being  the  only  one  in 
the  week  when  he  does  not  work,  he  devoted  himself 
to  hospitality  and  was  very  entertaining.  I  like  him 
very  much  and  he  manifests  quite  an  interest  in  me.  He 
said  that  if  I  had  made  no  arrangements  to  stay  where 
I  am  he  should  now  like  to  have  me  come  to  his  office. 
I  have  made  no  such  arrangements  and  shall  go  into  his 
office  as  soon  as  he  gives  the  word.  He  took  pains  to 
encourage  me  very  much. 

I  am  your  loving  son, 

J.  H.  C." 


-Dear  Mother,  "New  York'  Dec-  3°.  l855- 

"This  week  and  the  last  are  the  Holidays  so  called 
in  New  York.  People  generally  seem  to  give  themselves 
up  to  fun  and  frivolity,  and  a  very  jolly  state  of  mind 
universally  prevails.  What  now  adds  greatly  to  the 
prospect  of  a  merry  New  Year's  day  is  a  very  consider- 
able fall  of  snow,  which  the  citizens  prize  very  highly 
because  it  comes  so  seldom.  Even  Sunday  could  not 
keep  great  numbers  from  trying  it,  and  crowds  of  sleighs 
filled  the  Avenues  this  afternoon.  It  seems  rather  ridicu- 
lous to  one  who  has  lived  in  Salem,  but  I  believe  I  shall 
do  in  Rome  as  the  Romans  do  and  devote  Tuesday  to 
the  ladies.  Mr.  Carlile  knows  and  he  says  it  is  one  of 
the  things  to  be  done,  and  the  ladies  have  a  right  to  feel 
slighted  if  their  friends  do  not  call  on  New  Year's  Day. 
In  fact  it  will  be  impossible  to  do  anything  else  with 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  167 

Jecency  for  stores,  counting  rooms  and  lawyers'  offices 
ire  all  shut  up,  the  courts  adjourn,  and  nobody  is  allowed 
i;o  speak  or  think  of  business  till  next  day. 

"Christmas  Day  was  very  stormy,  but  in  the  after- 
noon I  managed  to  get  over  to  Brooklyn,  where  we  had 
:i  great  dinner  and  a  nice  time  in  the  evening.  Dr.  Bel- 
•  ows's  Church  (The  Church  of  All  Souls,  as  it  is  now  to 
oe  called)  was  dedicated  in  the  morning.  You  must 
iiave  seen  it  when  you  were  here.  Outside  it  looks  like 
my  idea  of  a  Chinese  Pagoda,  but  inside  it  is  truly  beau- 
jtiful.  Mr.  Frothingham  took  some  part  in  the  services. 
II  hear  that  he  joins  the  Unitarian  Ministers  in  this  vicinity 
in  their  meetings  and  conferences,  and  is  believed  to  be 
1  coming  round  to  sounder  doctrines  than  he  advocated 
in  Massachusetts. 

"Today  I  have  been  at  Dr.  Osgood's  morning  and 
evening — which  is  a  good  deal  when  you  consider  that 
I  don't  like  him. 

"All  the  Carliles  have  got  bad  colds,  Mrs.  C.  espe- 
cially, who  was  so  bad  today  that  she  had  to  stay  at  home, 
which  of  course  she  would  count  a  great  loss.  Horace 
will  not  come  to  Salem  till  February. 

"Mr.  Evarts's  office  I  like  very  much.  There  are  three 
partners,  all  first-rate  lawyers  and  doing  a  tremendous 
business.  Undoubtedly  it  will  be  for  my  advantage  to 
have  been  with  them  some  time  but  I  must  say  that  I 
now  feel  not  a  little  impatient  to  be  doing  for  myself — 
so  much  too  long  have  I  already  been  waiting. 

"Of  course  you  are  interested  to  know  what  sort  of 
people  I  am  living  among.  And  truly  they  are  a  very 
respectable  company — rather  too  many  ministers  among 
them  perhaps  to  be  very  jovial,  (I  believe  there  are  as 


168  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

many  as  eight  of  them)  but  still  social  enough  and  in- 
telligent enough.  The  other  night  a  little  dance  was  got 
up  among  the  boarders  in  the  parlors,  which  was  gen- 
erally appreciated  as  an  opportunity  for  getting  ac- 
quainted and  as  such  made  the  most  of.  We  want,  of 
course,  to  know  each  other  well  enough  to  be  on  speaking 
terms  and  call  each  other  by  name,  which  cannot  be 
easily  brought  about  without  some  such  scheme  for  gather- 
ing all,  or  all  that  are  disposed  to  come,  together.  They 
come  from  all  the  countries  in  Christendom  almost  and 
follow  all  sorts  of  callings — Brokers,  lawyers,  merchants, 
preachers,  booksellers,  rumsellers,  crockerywaremen,  one 
daguerreotypist,  one  medical  student,  one  haberdasher, 
one  Englishman,  one  Spaniard,  two  Frenchmen  and  in- 
numerable Yankees.  And  just  so  you  find  it  all  over 
N.  Y. 

"I  don't  generally  get  up  from  the  office  much  before 
six  o'clock,  when,  you  know,  we  have  dinner,  and  from 
seven  to  eleven  or  twelve  I  generally  devote  either  to 
study,  or  to  visiting,  or  both.  Breakfast  isn't  much  be- 
fore eight,  and  we  don't  find  it  practicable  to  get  up  much 
too  early  for  that.  Had  I  my  own  way  about  it  I  should 
prefer  to  have  dinner  an  hour  earlier,  go  to  bed  and  get 
up  an  hour  earlier,  and  to  begin  work  down  town  at  half 
past  eight  instead  of  half  past  nine  or  ten,  but  then,  we 
are  creatures  of  circumstances. 

"I  hope  you  are  all  well.  Of  course  you  will  tell  me 
if  you  are  not. 

"By  the  way,  which  'Doctor'  comes  to  read  German? 
Is  it  the  Irish  Doctor  or  'the  Doctor'? 

"A  happy  New  Year  to  you  all  round. 

"It  is  bed  time.  J.  H.  C" 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  169 

To  His  Mother 

"New  York  City 
January  6th  1856 

"We  are  all  buried  up  in  snow  drifts.  Yesterday  after- 
noon it  began  falling  very  thick  and  this  morning  the 
sun  rose  on  nothing  but  a  wilderness  of  snow  banks  where 
yesterday  stood  the  great  city  of  New  York.  The  grand- 
mother of  the  oldest  inhabitant  couldn't  remember  such 
another  if  she  were  alive  to  tell  the  tale.  Even  so  late 
as  breakfast  (and  that  on  Sundays  is  very  late)  the  streets 
were  as  pathless  as  the  untrodden  field  of  Hohenlinden. 
Not  a  milkman  nor  a  newsboy  was  brave  enough  to  breast 
it,  so  we  had  to  drink  our  coffee  pure  as  it  came  from  the 
pot,  and  without  a  scrap  of  news  to  discuss  over  it.  The 
wise  providence  of  our  laws,  however,  requires  the  side- 
walks to  be  cleared  instanter  in  spite  of  all  difficulties, 
so  by  dinner  time  we  got  into  communication  with  Broad- 
way and  the  rest  of  the  world.  You  will  not  be  surprised 
that  I  took  advantage  of  the  impossibility  of  going,  to 
stay  at  home  from  church,  and  edified  myself  in  my  own 
way,  and,  I  hope,  not  without  advantage. 

"This  evening  I  took  tea  at  Mr.  Kendall's,  our  cousin 
so  far  removed  that  we  have  but  just  discovered  him. 
He  is  a  fair  sort  of  man — reads  and  admires  Mr.  Webster 
and  Fred  Douglass  indiscriminately,  and  talks  away  in 
an  unbroken  strain,  his  words  falling  from  his  lips  as 
water  bubbles  from  a  fountain.  He  lived  in  Salem  for 
a  year  or  two  during  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain, 
and  asks  a  great  many  questions  about  the  men  and 
things  of  that  time,  which  I  answer  about  as  intelligently 
as  the  people  of  Sleepy  Hollow  replied  to  Rip  Van  Winkle 


iyo  JOSEPH   HODGES  CHOATE 


when  he  came  down  into  the  village  after  his  century's 
sleep. 


i 


: 


"New  Year's  Day  I  found  to  be  a  capital  institutio 
in  these  parts.  You  can  have  no  idea  of  the  way  it 
managed.  The  ladies  all  stay  at  home,  and  the  gentl 
men  turn  out,  to  a  man.  The  man  that  makes  the  most 
calls  is  the  best  fellow,  and  the  lady  that  counts  up  the 
largest  list  when  the  day  is  over  has  enough  to  pride  her- 
self on  for  a  year  to  come.  To  show  you  how  extensively 
the  thing  is  done;  Waring  told  me  that  he  and  his  uncle 
made  over  ioo  calls,  and  I  was  at  their  house  late  in  the 
evening  when  they  closed  their  list  at  140.  On  that  day, 
of  all  the  year,  everybody's  house  and  heart  is  open,  and 
old  friends  and  new  are  alike  welcome.  It  is  a  glorious 
custom  handed  down  by  the  Dutch,  and  a  few  such  in- 
troduced into  New  England  would  make  it  a  very  dif- 
ferent and  not  a  worse  place.  I  made  about  twenty  calls, 
and  though  I  started  reluctantly  I  enjoyed  it  very  much 
and  was  disposed  to  regret  getting  through.  I  called 
on  all  the  friends  that  I  have  told  you  about,  and  all  the 
Salemites  that  I  knew  were  here,  among  the  rest  a  Mrs. 
Nat.  Brown,  who  in  a  few  days  is  going  to  sea  with  her 
husband.  She  is  staying  with  a  Mrs.  Ward  who  looks 
enough  like  her  to  be  her  sister.  In  the  afternoon  I  went 
to  Brooklyn  and  saw  everybody  that  we  know  there. 
In  the  street  I  met  Dr.  GuIIen  who  is  the  Doctor  of 
Brooklyn,  and  he  persisted  in  taking  me  into  his  sleigh 
and  carrying  me  home  to  see  his  family,  of  whom  he  might 
be  proud,  for  Mrs.  C.  is  quite  the  best  looking  woman  I 
have  seen  about  N.  Y.  That  is  the  way  people  treat 
each  other  on  New  Year's  Day.     Everybody  does  just  so. 

"Your  letter  and  the  draft  from  Father  came  very 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  171 

opportunely  for  which  I  will  not  thank  you,  for  that 
would  imply  that  my  gratitude  to  you  and  him  was 
capable  of  being  put  on  paper  or  in  words. 

J.  H.  C." 
To  His  Sister 

"New  York  City. 
"Dear  Carrie,  Jan"  !3th>  l8^- 

"You  thought  New  York  was  a  lively  place  when  you 
were  here,  but  the  last  week  the  gayety  has  been  intense 
and  indescribable.  When  the  snow  banks  got  fairly 
broken  up  everything  that  could  be  got  upon  runners 
was  started  on  Broadway.  The  great  omnibus  sleighs, 
none  of  them  when  full  carrying  less  than  75  or  a  hun- 
dred men,  with  from  four  to  ten  horses  apiece,  attracted 
great  attention.  Every  bit  of  horseflesh  above  ground 
commanded  an  enormous  price.  I  heard  of  $45  being 
paid  for  the  use  of  a  sleigh  and  pair  of  horses  for  New 
Year's  Day.  As  long  as  the  sleighing  lasted  Broadway 
was  as  uproarious  as  Boston  or  Salem  on  the  4th  of  July. 
Such  cheering  and  music,  and  blowing  of  horns  as  would 
distract  a  sane  man,  or  make  a  mad  one  sober.  Now, 
however,  it  seems  to  be  all  over.  Last  night  the  January 
thaw  set  in,  which  seems  likely  to  go  to  the  bottom.  The 
streets  are  now  as  impassable  from  the  slush  and  water 
as  they  were  from  the  snow  banks  a  week  ago.  *  *  * 

To  J.  H.  Clark 

«n  T  "New  York,  February  16,  1856. 

"When  I  feel  particularly  stupid  as  was  the  case  yester- 
day morning,  nothing  does  me  half  so  much  good  as  a 


i72  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

slap  on  the  back  from  some  genuine  friend,  or  just  such 
a  jolly  epistle  as  you  sent  me  then.  Ever  since  the 
memorable  day  of  the  Salem  Muster,  when  shoulder 
to  shoulder  we  marched  in  triumph  over  the  tented  field 
and  so  narrowly  escaped  the  uplifted  bayonets  of  the 
treacherous  foe,  I  have  been  wondering  what  had  be- 
come of  you  and  wishing  I  could  hear  how  things  are 
going  on  in  Mason  Street.  And  now  to  have  all  the  Cam- 
bridge gossip  sewed  up  so  pleasantly  by  your  graceful 
hand  and  to  be  so  kindly  remembered  by  all  your  house- 
hold whom  I  shall  always  reckon  among  the  best  friends 
that  I  left  behind  me  is  the  next  best  thing  to  being  among 
you  face  to  face  and  feeling  the  grasp  of  your  hand  which 
used  to  penetrate  almost  to  the  bone.  Your  style,  Jo, 
is  more  graphic  than  I  should  have  supposed  you  capable 
of.  You  tell  of  the  inimitable  Sibley,  and  the  Historian 
of  Union  stands  before  me  in  all  the  grandeur  of  his  unc- 
tuous presence.  You  speak  of  Jennison  and  I  tremble 
at  the  thought  of  the  overarching  terrors  of  his  beetling 
brow  with  something  of  the  awe  that  must  inspire  the 
Mediterranean  voyager  as  he  floats  along  beneath  the 
impregnable  battlements  of  Gibraltar.  You  relate  the 
migration  of  the  Colburns,  and  I  feel  the  utter  dreariness 
of  Ash  Street.  You  mention  the  name  of  the  lovely  Katy, 
and  my  eyes  water  to  think  of  the  distance  that  divides 
us.  Since  I  left  Massachusetts,  as  you  know,  I  have  wan- 
dered many  a  weary  league  from  home  and  visited  the 
great  cities  of  the  West.  In  spite  of  their  much-boasted 
prosperity,  I  found  nothing  there  to  seduce  me  from 
New  York  where  I  had  already  made  up  my  mind  to 
try  my  fortunes  before  leaving  Boston.  We  had  an  un- 
eventful but  pleasant  journey,  saw  Niagara,  steamed 
over  the  Great  Lakes,  crossed  the  Mississippi  and  re- 


EARLY  DAYS   IN   NEW  YORK  173 

turned  with  a  more  enlarged  idea  of  our  great  country 
of  which  New  England  is  so  small  a  corner,  but  very 
well  satisfied  to  get  back  once  more  to  the  civilized  bor- 
ders of  the  Atlantic.  Almost  every  other  man  in  the 
Western  Country  seemed  to  be  a  Dutchman,  and  as  I 
am  not  particularly  well  versed  in  the  German  language, 
I  never  could  feel  exactly  at  home  among  them.  In  fact 
my  whole  Teutonic  vocabulary  may  be  summed  up  in 
the  one  word  '  Regenbogenklantz,'  a  rainbow,  which 
Miss  Annie  Wells  will  very  distinctly  remember  beating 
into  my  obtuse  brain.  However,  as  I  go  in  for  making 
the  most  of  all  my  opportunities,  I  greedily  seized  on  a 
chance  of  bringing  my  whole  stock  of  German  into  play. 
On  our  way  down  from  Niagara  Falls  to  Buffalo,  we 
found  ourselves  as  usual  among  a  car  full  of  Dutch  emi- 
grants on  their  way  to  the  far  West  with  their  wives  and 
families  and  the  wretched  remnants  of  fortune  they  had 
brought  from  home.  They  had  evidently  just  landed 
on  our  shores  and  couldn't  speak  a  word  of  English.  The 
conductor  came  through  and  demanded  their  tickets, 
but  being  a  blunt  Yankee  with  all  a  Yankee's  contempt 
for  barbarians  he  couldn't  translate  their  jargon.  The 
Baggage  Man  came  in  for  their  checks,  but  he  was  as 
bad  as  the  conductor  and  they  couldn't  make  themselves 
understood.  They  knew  nothing  of  the  way  they  were 
going,  and  wanted  to  find  out  everything,  and  altogether 
were  sadly  in  want  of  an  interpreter,  but  no  such  aid 
was  at  hand. 

"It  had  been  raining  hard  all  the  way  from  the  Falls, 
but  as  we  approached  Buffalo,  the  sun  broke  through 
the  clouds  with  uncommon  brightness  in  the  West  and 
attracted  the  admiring  gaze  of  our  German  companions. 
Of  course  there  was  a  brilliant  rainbow  in  sight  from  the 


i74  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

opposite  window  of  the  car  which  I  was  the  first  to  dis- 
cover. Leaning  forward  among  the  Teutons  who  were 
so  intent  upon  the  setting  sun,  '  Regenbogenklantz '  said 
I  at  the  top  of  my  voice.  'Regenbogenklantz'  each 
Dutchman  involuntarily  responded,  starting  as  if  they 
had  been  shot  and  facing  about  to  look  at  it,  but  only 
for  a  moment  as  if  to  assure  themselves  that  they  had 
heard  a  real  voice  from  the  Vaterland  and  not  an  empty 
echo.  Then  they  turned  upon  me,  greedy  as  a  pack  of 
wolves,  thinking  that  here  to  be  sure  was  their  long- 
wanted  interpreter.  In  wild  and  exultant  tones  they 
speered  at  me  question  after  question  and  would  not  let 
me  go,  confiding  to  me  doubtless  all  their  long-cherished 
sorrows,  and  their  pent-up  wants.  But  I  could  only  hang 
down  my  head  and  look  very  sheepish,  and  faintly  whis- 
per *  No !  No !  No ! '  since  when  I  have  carefully  avoided 
all  their  dialectic  peculiarities,  more  convinced  than  ever 
that  a  little  knowledge  is  a  dangerous  thing. 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  appeared  before  the  public 
at  the  October  Exhibition  in  so  respectable  a  character 
as  a  Greek  Version,  for  which  species  of  performance  I 
have  had  a  particular  predilection  ever  since  I  repeated 
on  a  similar  occasion  some  touching  extracts  translated 
into  the  vernacular  from  \oxovpyov  %cua  \eoxpwovs.  What 
studies  have  you  taken  as  electives  for  the  Junior  year? 
I  suppose  an  advance  of  one  year  more  in  college  has 
had  the  effect  as  usual  of  making  you  more  proud  and 
conceited  than  ever. 

"I  have  not  yet  got  an  office  of  my  own  and  no  small 
boy.  I  don't  aspire  to  that  distinction  before  the  Au- 
tumn. My  address  is  William  M.  Evarts,  Esq.,  No.  2 
Hanover  St.,  N.  Y. 

"Write  me  again  and  often,  my  dear  Jos.,  and  keep  me 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  175 

posted  on  all  the  Cambridge  news,  and  so  long  as  clients 
are  as  scarce  as  now,  I  will  try  to  do  justice  to  your  corre- 
spondence. Give  a  great  deal  of  love  to  your  uncle  and 
aunt  and  to  Aunt  Carrie  as  well  as  to  my  good  friends 
the  Wellses  and  believe  me, 

Faithfully  yours, 

J.  H.  Choate." 


"Dear  Mother,  "New  York'  ^  2$>  l8*6' 

"  I  have  been  spending  Sunday  with  Waring  in  Brooklyn 
and  had  no  very  good  opportunity  there  to  write  you  on 
Sunday  as  usual.  I  went  to  Dr.  Farley's  meeting  with 
Mr.  Sherwell  and  his  uncle  and  saw  there  a  great  many 
people  whom  I  had  seen  before.  The  whole  Low  family 
seemed  to  occupy  the  chief  seats  in  the  synagogue  and 
of  course  are  among  the  chief  pillars  of  the  church. 

"Last  week  I  got  an  order  from  one  of  the  Judges  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  my  admission  to  the  Bar,  and 
expect  to  take  the  oath  and  sign  the  rolls  this  week,  but 
you  have  seen  enough  of  young  lawyers  already  to  know 
that  our  fortunes  are  not  all  made  at  once  upon  our  being 
enrolled  among  the  Esquires. 

"Mr.  Carlile  and  Horace  I  saw  on  Saturday,  and 
Mr.  C.  said  he  should  try  and  find  somebody  to  sue  so 
as  to  give  me  a  case. 

"Washington's  birthday  was  celebrated  with  a  great 
deal  of  noise  and  jollification  on  Friday,  and  somehow 
or  other  they  have  ever  so  much  more  jolly  ways  of  doing 
that  sort  of  thing  than  in  Boston  or  Salem.  In  the  eve- 
ning I  had  the  good  luck  to  go  to  the  first  party  I  have 
attended  in  these  parts — at  the  Mansion  House  in 
Brooklyn  given  by  the  boarders  there,  of  whom  Mrs. 


i76  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

Sherwell  who  invited  me  is  one.  It  was  pleasant  as  par- 
ties in  general,  but  the  hours  they  keep  are  outrageous, 
beginning  at  ten  and  not  breaking  up  till  three.  How 
people  stand  such  dissipation  often  repeated  passes  my 
comprehension.  And  in  fact  they  don't  stand  it  any 
better  than  you  would  suppose,  the  ladies  especially 
having  a  very  jaded  look,  which  betrays  the  bad  effect 
of  the  system.  Lizzie  Carlile  writes  me  that  they  are 
still  on  the  lookout  for  a  house,  and  I  can  well  imagine 
that  it  must  be  a  difficult  search. 

"  I  heard  indirectly  of  Charley  Upham  the  other  day 
as  being  at  Gibraltar  a  month  ago  in  company  with  Wilder 
Dwight  and  some  other  old  Cambridge  friends,  and  in- 
tending to  go  as  far  East  as  Sebastopol. 

"What  times  you  seem  to  have  been  having  with  the 
snow  in  Massachusetts.  It  is  two  or  three  weeks  now 
since  it  snowed  here,  and  everybody  now  is  wishing  that 
we  may  never  see  any  more  of  it  again.  It  plays  the 
mischief  so  with  travelling  about  the  city  that  we  all 
vote  it  a  nuisance.  In  Broadway  they  have  shovelled 
it  all  up  into  the  middle  of  the  street  where  it  lies  like 
a  mountainous  ridge  from  one  end  of  the  city  to  the  other, 
in  some  places  rising  to  the  height  of  seven  or  eight  feet. 

"I  am  very  glad  to  receive  the  Register  which  is  cer- 
tainly a  good  substitute  for  the  Observer. 

"Hoping  you  are  well  and  happy,  I  am  with  much 

9  Yours  ever,  T    H    C " 


"Dear  Mother  "New  York'  March  3rd  l8*6 

"I'd  rather  write  home  Sunday  evening  than  any  other 
time  in  the  week,  but  last  evening  I  spent  at  the  Gib- 
bons's,  and  on  the  way  down  with  Mr.  Hopper  stopped 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  177 

so  long  at  his  house  (which  you  must  know  is  a  charming 
place,  a  nice,  plain  old  Quaker  home,  with  some  modern 
fixings  in  it  since  they  ceased  to  be  Quakers)  I  stayed 
there  so  long  that  I  thought  best  to  postpone  my  letter 
till  now. 

"Here  I  am  still  in  Mr.  Evarts's  office,  and  in  a  state 
of  pretty  considerable  doubt  what  to  do  next.  I  think 
that  perhaps  it  isn't  practicable  for  me  to  open  an  office 
by  myself  before  next  fall,  and  then  on  the  other  hand, 
there  are  many  reasons  in  favor  of  starting  out  at  once. 
In  going  into  another  man's  office  in  whatever  capacity, 
the  great  thing  or  at  least  the  first  requisite,  is  to  find  a 
thoroughly  respectable  man,  for  there  are  so  many  bad 
characters  in  the  profession  here  that  a  young  man  is 
in  danger,  if  he  proceeds  rashly,  of  forming  connections 
which  will  give  him  at  the  outset  a  bad  odour  among  the 
better  class  of  men  of  which  it  will  be  hard  to  rid  himself. 
So  I  shall  try  to  look  before  I  leap. 

"The  novelty  of  my  boarding-house  is  wearing  off, 
and  I  am  getting  tired  of  it.  In  the  spring  I  rather  think 
I  shall  find  a  place  somewhat  further  uptown  where  I 
shall  be  nearer  my  friends. 

"  To-day  and  to-morrow  of  course  are  exciting  times 
in  Salem.  I  should  like  to  be  there  to  vote  against  know- 
nothings  and  free-soilers,*  to  whom  I  haven't  become 

*  In  1848  both  Democrats  and  Whigs  dodged  the  question  of  slavery  in  the 
territories,  and  a  convention  at  Buffalo,  composed  of  those  opposed  to  the 
extension  of  slavery,  declared  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  federal  government  to 
abolish  slavery  wherever  it  had  the  constitutional  power,  and  that  the  true  and 
only  sane  means  to  keep  slavery  out  of  the  territories  was  by  conventional  ac- 
tion. So  began  the  Free-Soilers,  and  nominated  Martin  Van  Buren  for  Presi- 
dent and  divided  the  Democratic  vote  in  New  York  State,  so  that  Cass,  the 
Democratic  candidate,  lost  the  State,  and  Taylor  (Whig)  won  it  and  the  election. 

The  Know- Nothing  party  began  in  1854,  growing  out  of  alarm  at  activities 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  and  at  the  influence  of  "  the  ignorant  foreign 
vote  "  in  elections.  Its  slogan  was  "Americans  Should  Rule  America,"  and  an 
order  attributed  to  Washington,  "  Put  none  but  Americans  on  guard  to-night," 
served  as  its  key-note. 


178  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

any  more  attached  since  I  came  to  New  York.  But  I 
would  rather  be  a  voter  in  Salem  than  here,  for  nobody 
can  form  an  idea,  I'm  afraid,  of  the  extent  to  which  cor- 
ruption and  cheating  are  carried  on  at  elections  here. 
Something  will  have  to  be  done  by  and  by  to  the  City 
Government  of  New  York.  What  do  you  think  of  a 
tax  of  six  millions  and  a  half  of  dollars  for  its  current 
expenses  the  coming  year — which  is  an  increase  of  three 
millions  since  1850!  It  is  truly  horrible  and  seems  alto- 
gether incredible. 

"Everybody  in  New  York  that  knows  anything  is 
looking  for  a  rich  feast  tonight  in  Mr.  Everett's  oration 
on  the  character  of  Washington.  I  am  going  to  hear  it 
and  expect  it  to  be  the  last  triumph  of  eloquence.  There 
are  some  horrible  croakers  here  as  in  Massachusetts, 
who  lose  sight  of  all  Mr.  Everett's  greatness  and  excel- 
lence, and  deny  it  altogether,  because,  they  say,  he  is 
a  Doughface — for  which  I  like  him  all  the  better.  He 
is  to  speak  in  the  Academy  of  Music,  and  I  shouldn't 
wonder  if  this  should  be  one  of  the  few  occasions  on  which 
that  large  building  will  be  more  than  filled.  *  *  * 

"Isn't  it  splendid  for  William  to  be  charming  every- 
body so  at  the  outset?  Of  course  'his  argument  was 
one  of  the  best  that  had  been  heard  in  the  court  house 
for  many  a  day.'  But  you  and  I  have  reason  to  know 
very  well  it  will  always  be  so.    J.  H.  C." 

"Dear  Mother,  "New  York*  March  l0>  l8^ 

"Yesterday  I  went  to  church  by  going  to  Mrs.  Gib- 
bons's  and  reading  Dr.  Walker's  sermon  on  the  death 
of  her  son  which  is  certainly  a  very  beautiful  tribute 
to  his  memory.     I  want  you  to  know  Mrs.  G.,  mother, 


**J^S 

WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS  (1818-1901). 
From  a  portrait  painted  by  William  M.  Hunt  in  the  seventies. 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  179 

somehow  or  other.  I  believe  she  is  the  greatest  and  best 
woman  in  New  York  today.  To  be  sure  the  whole  charm 
of  her  life  is  gone,  with  her  son  wrho  was  the  family's  idol, 
and  to  whom  she  devoted  herself  with  her  whole  might 
in  a  way  which  nobody  can  understand  and  appreciate 
so  well  as  you.  I  know  that  you  would  love  each  other 
very  much.  Her  friendship  is  very  unpretending  but 
very  true,  and  I  think  there  is  nothing  in  her  power  that 
she  wouldn't  do  for  a  friend.  If  anything  should  happen 
to  me,  for  instance,  alone  as  I  am  here,  you  may  be  sure 
she  would  take  me  in  charge  and  stand  by  me  through 
everything,  and  come  as  near  as  any  woman  could  to 
making  your  place  good.  Her  home  is  the  only  place 
I  have  yet  seen  in  all  New  York  that  is  perfectly  free 
from  everything  worldly  &  selfish  and  the  false  life  which 
is  generally  led  here.  She  manifests  an  interest  in  you 
all,  and  we  mustn't  let  slip  the  first  opportunity  for  you 
to  know  her. 

"Last  Wednesday  I  attended  a  party  with  the  Carliles 
at  the  house  of  their  friends  the  De  Forests  in  30th  Street, 
who  seemed  to  be  very  pleasant  and  sensible  people, 
who  warned  their  guests  to  come  early  and  especially  to 
go  away  early,  and  sure  enough  we  came  home  at  eleven 
o'clock.  It  was  a  family  party,  and  the  family  is  one 
great  nest  of  lawyers,  in  all  stages  &  ranks  in  the  pro- 
fession, from  the  fledgling  that  hasn't  yet  had  his  first 
case  to  Daniel  Lord,  who  has  grown  old  in  the  service, 
and  has  stood  always  in  the  front  rank,  and  sometimes 
at  the  head  of  the  Bar.  Mr.  De  Forest  is  in  the  South 
American  business  in  the  same  line  with  Mr.  Carlile, 
and  they  seemed  to  be  excellent  friends  of  his,  and  treated 
me  very  kindly. 

"  Father's  kind  letter  I  received  on  Thursday  and  only 


180  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

hope  I  may  prove  worthy  of  all  you  do  and  have  done 
for  me. 

"I  want  to  tell  you  about  Mr.  Everett's  oration  on 
Monday  which  was  the  great  event  of  the  week.  That 
great  house  you  know  holds  six  thousand  people,  and 
quite  early  on  Monday  every  ticket  was  taken  up  and 
there  was  still  a  tremendous  demand.  The  doors  were 
to  be  opened  at  seven  o'clock  at  which  hour  you  will 
guess  I  was  on  hand.  Thousands  of  people  were  wait- 
ing outside  for  admission  and  at  the  opening  of  the  doors 
there  was  a  mighty  rush.  To  our  dismay,  however,  upon 
getting  inside,  every  seat  in  the  house  seemed  to  be  al- 
ready occupied  by  those  who  had  a  friend  in  the  cabinet, 
and  had  been  admitted  by  the  side  door.  However, 
everybody  was  content  to  stand  up  if  so  they  could  see 
&  hear  Mr.  Everett.  You  saw  that  house  by  daylight 
and  empty  and  can  hardly  form  an  idea  of  it  under  the 
brilliant  illumination  of  a  thousand  gas  lights,  and  every 
nook  and  corner  of  it  from  the  orchestra  to  the  fifth  story 
filled  with  a  respectable  and  well  dressed  audience.  I 
found  my  way  into  the  orchestra  and  succeeded  in  getting 
a  chair  there  just  in  front  of  the  speaker's  table  about 
ten  feet  off.  When  the  hour  for  the  lecture  arrived  the 
curtain  rose,  as  for  a  play,  and  disclosed  the  whole  stage 
behind  it,  occupied  by  successive  rows  of  seats  to  its 
remotest  corner,  which  were  filled  with  specially  invited 
men  of  note.  There  were  Genl.  Scott  and  Mr.  Bancroft 
&  Mr.  Bryant,  Mr.  Grinnell  &  Peter  Cooper,  with  all 
the  most  eminent  merchants  and  lawyers  &  men  of  the 
city.  It  had  a  very  pleasant  effect,  and  the  whole  hous< 
was  a  great  spectacle.  I  have  heard  Mr.  Everett  seven 
times  before,  but  never  where  he  came  out  so  great 
then.     It  was  a  great  subject,  treated  as  it  deserved. 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  181 

very  much  doubt  if  a  more  beautiful  view  of  Washington's 
character  can  be  found  in  any  one  of  the  million  orations 
which  must  before  this  have  been  pronounced  upon  him, 
and  I  am  quite  sure  that  no  orator  ever  received  a  more 
satisfactory  tribute  to  his  genius  than  was  paid  to  Mr.  E. 
by  the  presence  of  such  an  audience,  so  great  and  so  well 
made  up,  and  the  perfect  attention  and  admiration  that 
beamed  from  every  listening  countenance.  Mr.  Everett 
is  evidently  getting  old,  which  did  not  appear  so  much 
during  his  discourse  as  at  its  close,  when  he  seemed  hardly 
able  to  drag  one  foot  after  another  to  his  seat.  But  I 
suppose  he  never  had  to  work  so  hard  as  in  those  two 
hours  in  that  monstrous  house, 

"I  have  got  a  professional  job,  the  looking  into  the 
title  to  some  land,  for  which  in  the  fulness  of  time,  say 
by  next  fall,  I  shall  get  properly  paid. 

"It  is  very  cold  here  today  and  yesterday — very  lit- 
tle above  zero.  xz       T     . 

Your  loving  son,  y    „ 

"Dear  Mother,  "New  York'  3°  March  l8*6' 

******** 

"  I  had  no  idea  until  walking  up  among  them  this  morn- 
ing of  the  wretched  condition  in  which  our  Irish  laborers 
live.  Quite  across  the  island  up  in  the  neighborhood  of 
iooth  Street,  there  is  a  great  village  of  miserable  cabins, 
occupied  by  them,  in  comparison  with  which  our  old 
pigsty,  which  you  of  course  have  not  forgotten,  was  a 
costly  &  respectable  tenement.  The  same  style  of  build- 
ings are  to  be  seen  on  all  the  Avenues  for  some  20  streets 
down.  And,  within  two  miles,  in  a  beeline  from  Dr. 
Townsend's  Sarsaparilla  Mansion  the  paddies  and  pigs 


1 82  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

live  promiscuously  together,  constituting  one  family  in 
houses  of  a  single  story  and  no  partitions  at  that,  f  *  *  * 

"Butler  &  Evarts  have  just  made  me  an  offer  which 
I  have  about  concluded  to  accept.  It  is  to  remain  in 
their  office  for  a  year  from  the  first  of  May,  to  make  my- 
self generally  useful,  at  a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars. 
This  is  starting  at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder  which  is  the 
only  proper  place  to  begin,  if  one  hopes  ever  to  come  near 
the  top.  And  I  am  pretty  well  satisfied  that  it  will  be 
my  speediest  as  well  as  surest  introduction  to  advance- 
ment in  the  profession.  It  will  be  a  year  of  'confinement 
to  hard  labor'  for  everybody  in  that  office  works  very 
hard,  and  in  New  York  especially  anybody  that  hesi- 
tates to  do  that  will  soon  be  left  behind.  On  the  whole 
I  consider  myself  very  lucky  and  so  my  friends  tell  me 
to  whom  I  have  mentioned  it.  It  is  not  for  the  present 
profit  of  the  arrangement  although  that  is  certainly  re- 
spectable, but  for  the  fact  that  that  is  one  of  the  best 
offices  in  the  city  to  learn  business,  and  a  young  man  who 
has  been  trained  there  will  be  much  more  likely  to  com- 
mand confidence  &  business  afterwards  than  one  who 
starts  without  any  such  experience  to  prepare  him. 

"This  evening  I  called  at  Dr.  Stone's.  He  had  gone 
to  Church  but  his  amiable  lady  was  at  home  and  I  made 
quite  a  long  call.  And  when  I  make  one  call  I  am  sure 
to  make  several,  for  it  is  such  a  consummate  bore  to  get 
ready  and  start  off,  that  every  occasion  when  I  succeed 
in  overcoming  that  part  of  the  difficulty  must  be  made 
the  most  of.  So  I  went  to  see  Billy  Daland  and  his  lady, 
&  some  very  remote  cousins,  the  Kendalls — two  birds 

fThe  tenements  of  that  time  were  still  worse.  Prior  to  1866  New  York 
was  one  of  the  most  unhealthy  cities  of  the  world,  with  a  death-rate  of  thirty- 
five  to  forty-five  per  thousand. 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  183 

which  I  make  it  a  point  always  to  kill  with  the  same 

stone,  for  they  live  within  half  a  dozen  blocks  of  each 

other 

Your  loving  son,  J.  H.  C." 

"New  York  City 
"Dear  Mother,  pn    <  f  ' 

"I  have  of  course  accepted  Mr.  Evarts's  proposition. 
As  to  a  vacation  in  August  at  which  father  hinted,  there 
will  be  no  difficulty,  for  during  July  &  August  business 
slacks  off  very  much,  the  courts  are  shut,  the  lawyers 
scatter,  and  everybody  can  have  a  chance  for  a  run,  though 
of  course  young  men  cannot  absent  themselves  like  those 
whose  fortunes  are  already  made. 

"You  may  believe  that  I  was  elated  the  other  day 
by  the  receipt  of  my  first  fee  in  New  York  and  that, 
too,  no  less  a  sum  than  thirty-five  dollars,  which,  as  it 
took  but  a  part  of  two  days'  work,  I  thought  a  very  toler- 
able .beginning.  And  you  may  imagine  with  what  satis- 
faction I  sent  a  part  of  it  to  Mr.  Neal  in  response  to  the 
circular  which  he  sent  me  in  behalf  of  Master  Carlton, 
to  whom  we  all  owe  so  much.  Grandsir,  I  remember, 
used  to  tell  George  to  nail  his  first  quarter,  that  he  got 
for  hauling  a  tooth,  to  the  wall  to  remind  him  always 
of  the  beginning  of  his  fortunes.  But  certainly  it  is  as 
well  to  devote  a  portion  of  the  first  fruits  to  some  good 
work,  and  I  know  of  none  better  than  the  expression  of 
our  gratitude  to  our  old  &  faithful  teacher.  I  am  glad 
to  know  that  those  who  have  that  matter  in  charge  are 
doing  the  thing  up  handsomely,  for  surely  Mr.  C.  has 
been  treated  very  shabbily  by  the  City  Fathers.  Don't 
they  deserve  an  O.  K.,  O.  K.,  O.  K., — which  means,  you 


1 84  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

remember,  'an  awful  cut  from  Oliver  Carlton's  awful 
cowhide/ 

"Then,  too,  I  have  been  engaged  during  part  of  the 
last  month  in  another  piece  of  work  for  which  my  fees, 
when  I  get  'em,  will  be  upwards  of  a  hundred  dollars. 
So  that  my  income  for  the  next  year  can  not  fall  short 
of  six  hundred,  which  is  certainly  a  great  deal  to  be  sure 
of  before  the  year  begins. 

"AH  which  confirms  the  idea  which  I  got  at  the  out- 
set that  New  York  is  the  place  to  get  along  if  one  happens 
to  have  good  luck.  Such,  however,  has  a  great  deal  to 
do  with  professional  success  here  as  elsewhere,  and  some- 
times I  hear  of  dolorous  cases  which  make  me  blue  & 
gloomy  for  a  week  after.  A  few  weeks  ago,  for  instance, 
I  was  walking  up  Broadway  and  overtook  an  old  ac- 
quaintance of  mine  at  Cambridge,  who  always  stood 
well  there,  and  is  regarded  as  a  worthy  fellow  of  respect- 
able talents.  He  had  had  a  sign  out  over  an  office  here 
for  a  year  &  more,  and  I  supposed  he  was  doing  moder- 
ately well.  But  he  told  me  in  tones  too  doleful  to  be 
depicted,  that  his  whole  gross  receipts  for  the  first  year 
had  been  just  five  dollars.  So  goes  the  world  with  him, 
while  many  a  worthless  scamp  here  in  every  sort  of  busi- 
ness is  piling  up  his  thousands.  Nothing,  however,  is  more 
preposterous  than  the  idea  with  which  many  young  law- 
yers, among  others,  come  here,  of  growing  rich  in  a  day. 
It  is  as  ridiculous,  it  seems  to  me,  for  a  lawyer  to  expect 
to  make  his  fortune  in  a  few  years  by  practice  in  New 
York,  as  it  would  be  to  think  of  ever  doing  so  in  Salem. 
If  we  rub  and  go  through  the  first  ten  years,  and  come 
out  whole  &  stand  fair  then,  it  will  be  all  that  anyone 
could  ask  or  hope.  *  *  * 

With  much  love,  I  am,  J.  H.  C." 


EARLY  DAYS  IN  NEW  YORK  185 

"Dear  Mother,  "New  York'  I4  APriI  l8*6' 

"  I  shall  take  the  morning  train  for  Boston  next  Satur- 
day and  hope  to  be  among  you  all  by  tea  time. 

"I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  continue  at  my  present 
boarding  house,  and  not  to  think  of  changing.  I  was 
disposed  to  be  a  little  tired  of  it  at  one  time,  but  it  wears 
pretty  well  on  the  whole,  and  there  isn't  one  chance  in 
a  dozen  that  I  should  better  my  condition  by  shifting 
about.  There  is  some  advantage  too,  I  think,  for  a 
stranger  here,  to  be  in  so  populous  a  house,  where  there 
are  always  so  many  and  such  constant  changes,  that  it 
is  really  in  that  respect  not  much  unlike  a  hotel.  Espe- 
cially now  as  the  ist  of  May  approaches,  all  the  board- 
ing houses  that  have  a  permanent  and  established  char- 
acter, of  which  ours  is  one,  rapidly  fill  up.  For  a  great 
many  of  the  people  who  keep  boarders  break  up  their 
establishments  on  that  day  when  their  leases  expire, 
and  set  all  their  boarders  adrift,  who  of  course  are  anxious 
to  find  a  place  where  they  will  not  be  liable  to  a  repetition 
of  the  same  calamity.  *  *  * 

I  am  your  loving  son,  T    H    P " 


"Dear  Mother:  "New  York'  4  May'  l8*6 

"After  quitting  Salem  on  Monday  I  passed  several 
very  pleasant  hours  in  Boston,  saw  Charles  in  his  office 
and  Lizzie  in  her  rooms,  had  a  hasty  meeting  with  Mr. 
(Rufus)  Choate  who  was  busier  than  ever  and  who  as- 
sured me  that  he  got  ready  a  great  deal  of  dinner  on 
Saturday  for  me  and  could  find  nobody  else  to  eat  it. 
"I  sent  father  during  the  week  a  paper  containing 


1 86  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

an  account  of  a  Black  Republican  meeting  in  which  I 
supposed  he  would  be  interested.  On  the  occasion  Mr. 
Evarts  made  a  very  successful  debut  as  a  political  orator. 
His  speech  was  really  a  capital  one  and  is  only  very  im- 
perfectly reported  in  the  newspapers.  The  meeting  was 
almost  exclusively  a  city  affair,  or  else  I  suppose  Mr. 
Upham  who  was  a  quiet  auditor,  would  perhaps  have 
been  invited  to  speak. 

"Ogden  Hoffman,  who  has  long  occupied  the  position 
of  'the  great  orator  of  New  York'  died  very  suddenly 
a  few  days  ago.  He  began  life  as  a  midshipman  and  has 
had  wonderful  success,  which  was  owing  solely  to  his 
great  gift  of  speech.  There  has  hardly  been  an  important 
criminal  case  here  for  twenty  years  in  which  he  did  not 
appear  on  one  side  or  the  other.  But  he  was  a  notoriously 
lazy  man  and  an  extravagantly  high  liver,  but  for  which 
he  would  have  won  a  still  more  brilliant  &  more  extended 
fame.  *  *  * 

"I  carried  Carry's  note  to  Mrs.  Gibbons.  There  I 
saw  her  ladyship  Mrs.  Nat  Silsbee,  as  large  as  life  and 
twice  as  magnificent.  Take  her  for  all  in  all,  I  think 
she's  the  richest  combination  of  attitudes  and  absurdi- 
ties that  was  ever  put  together  in  the  shape  of  a  woman. 
What  a  capital  queen  she  would  make  if  we  should  ever 
get  tired  of  Republican  governments  and  stand  in  need 
of  Royalty.  Her  lovely  daughter  I  did  not  see,  but  as 
she  spoke  of  her  baby  I  suppose  she  is  somewhere  in  New 
York.    Yesterday  I  met  Mrs.  Pickman  in  the  street. 

"To-day's  paper  contains  the  news  of  the  death  of 
Dr.  Warren  of  Boston.  The  old  graduates  of  Cambridge 
are  rapidly  falling  away,  and  if  I  recollect  right,  scarcely 
fifty  survive  of  the  classes  previous  to  1800.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 


EARLY  DAYS   IN   NEW  YORK  187 

~  ,,  "New  York  11  May  1856. 

Dear  Mother,  j      j 


"Mr.  Wood,  the  celebrated  Mayor  of  New  York,  has 
gone  to  Virginia,  to  deliver  an  oration  &  to  contribute 
the  proceeds  toward  the  purchase  of  Mount  Vernon. 
He  has  never  before  been  known  as  an  orator,  but  seems 
just  now  to  have  been  seized  with  a  sudden  desire  to 
emulate  the  example  and  the  fame  of  Mr.  Everett.  I 
suppose  he  is  one  of  the  most  unprincipled  rascals  that 
popular  election  has  ever  thrown  to  the  surface  of  things. 
But  on  the  principle  of  setting  a  rogue  to  catch  a  rogue, 
he  makes  an  excellent  Mayor,  being  capable  of  detect- 
ing the  shortcomings  of  his  subordinates,  who  imitate 
none  so  much  as  himself,  and  at  the  same  time  of  con- 
cealing from  their  vigilance  his  own  misdemeanours.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 


A,  c  "New  York  19  May  1856 

My  dear  Sister,  ~       J      * 


"Nothing  surprises  me  more  in  N.  Y.  than  to  see  how 
the  city  is  constantly  being  rebuilt,  even  in  those  parts 
where  its  magnificence  seems  almost  complete  already. 
AH  up  and  down  both  sides  of  Broadway,  a  great  many 
buildings  which  were  themselves  quite  respectable,  are 
being  demolished,  and  every  day  some  other  one  begins 
to  disappear,  and  if  all  the  changes  there  which  have 
been  contemplated  and  commenced  are  completed  dur- 
ing th£  season,  they  will  make  quite  a  street  of  it  before 

next  winter.  *  *  *  T    „    r>  » 

J.  rl.  C 


1 88  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"Dear  Mother,  "New  York  26th  Ma^  l8*6 

******** 

"How  the  cousining  spirit  of  the  Choates  crops  out 
even  amid  the  turmoil  of  business  of  New  York.  Nothing 
can  keep  it  down,  and  in  the  most  adverse  circumstances 
it  seems  to  flourish  best.  On  Saturday  I  was  in  the  office 
when  a  strange  gentleman  entered  and  inquired  if  there 
was  a  person  by  the  name  of  Choate  in  that  office.  '  That's 
my  name,  Sir/  said  I.  'How  are  you,  Mr.  Choate;  my 
name's  Holbrook.'  Well,  thinks  I,  here's  a  pretty  state 
of  things.  What  is  Mr.  Holbrook  to  me,  or  I  to  Mr.  Hol- 
brook? But  in  a  moment  the  recollection  of  the  Rowley 
Branch  of  our  family  flashed  upon  me,  and  the  almost 
forgotten  visage  of  the  lost  Amory  rose  to  my  mind's 
eye.  And  sure  enough  he  turned  out  to  be  Amory  Hol- 
brook's  brother  Willard,  of  whose  existence  I  was  alto- 
gether ignorant.  He  has  been  a  New  Yorker  now  for  a 
dozen  years,  and  is  in  business  close  by  us — a  cotton 
broker.  The  ties  of  blood  seem  to  bind  him  uncommonly 
strong,  and  you  may  believe  we  fraternized  like  the  long 
lost  kinsmen  in  the  play  whom  Fate  had  parted  and  Time 
had  reunited.  *  *  *  T    H    r " 

(tr>k         ,,  "New  York,  2  June,  1856 

"Dear  Mother:  * 

"Mr.  (Rufus)  Choate  and  Rufus  passed  through  the 
city  on  their  way  home  from  Washington  on  Friday.  I 
saw  them  for  a  moment.  The  papers  said  that  his  blood 
was  boiling  while  in  Washington,  but  I  saw  no  symptoms 
of  it. 

"Mr.  Evarts  as  you  see  by  the  papers  is  rapidly  grow- 
ing into  a  great  man.    He  was  the  chief  manager  of  the 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  189 

mass  indignation  meeting  last  week,  which  is  said  to 
have  been  as  remarkable  for  the  character  of  the  people 
that  composed  it  as  for  the  cause  that  called  them  to- 
gether. The  Old  Fogies — the  thousands  that  the  politi- 
cians never  can  count  upon — are  fairly  aroused,  and  come 
out  in  full  force.  So  it  is  in  Brooklyn,  and  so  it  seems  to 
be  everywhere.  *  *  * 

"I  shall  want  no  more  regular  supplies  from  father, 
but  if  he  will  enclose  to  me  $20  to  start  on  I  hope  to  do 
very  well  for  myself  for  some  time  to  come. 

With  much  love  I  am,  ever  yours,  T    „    ^  „ 

J.  H.  U. 


"Dear  Mother:  "New  York'  J3  JuI^  l8*6" 

"John  Welles  called  to  see  me  on  his  way  home  from 
the  South.  He  has  already  made  up  his  mind  to  return 
to  Mississippi  in  the  fall.  Like  almost  all  young  men 
from  the  North  who  go  south  to  remain  for  any  length 
of  time,  he  returns  a  zealous  defender  of  the  peculiar 
institution. 

"Mr.  Upham's  Life  of  Fremont  appears  to  be  having 
a  good  sale,  which  he  owes  very  much  to  having  got  so 
far  the  start  of  several  others  that  are  now  almost  com- 
pleted. Among  many  others  there  is  one  being  written 
by  Mr.  Bigelow,  editor  of  the  Evening  Post,  which  is  ex- 
pected to  be  a  good  one.  In  spite  of  the  heat,  and  the 
absence  of  a  great  many  people  from  the  city,  political 
excitement  is  beginning  to  run  high  here.  The  other 
night  we  organized  in  our  Ward  as  a  Fremont  Club,  and 
similar  associations  are  formed  throughout  the  city. 
Among  the  rest  Mr.  Evarts  is  quite  an  ardent  Republican, 
and  is  thinking  of  going  to  Boston  to  speak  in  Faneuil 
Hall  on  Friday  evening.  *  *  *  T    H    T " 


1 9o  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

To  J.  H.  Clark 

u  £  w  New  York  1 8  July  1 856 

"Dear  Joe:  j      ? 

"Your  pleasant  epistle  came  duly  to  hand,  and  now 
with  the  Thermometer  a,t  94,  and  growing  worse  at  that, 
I  have  seated  myself  to  reply.  I  know  well  enough  with- 
out a  college  catalogue  that  this  is  Commencement  week. 
The  'internal  evidences'  are  quite  sufficient  to  satisfy 
a  reasoning  mind  of  that.  This  part  of  creation  can  have 
been  turned  into  Tophet  for  no  other  purpose.  When 
I  entered  college,  Commencement  was  about  the  first 
week  in  September,  but  as  that  week  was  always  uncom- 
fortably "warm,  a  change  to  July  suggested  itself  to  the 
Corporation  as  a  proper  remedy.  But  as  soon  as  the 
new  law  went  into  operation  the  seasons  changed  to  suit 
it,  and  ever  since  as  regularly  as  the  year  comes  around, 
the  sun  stands  still  over  Cambridge  for  the  three  days 
of  public  exercises  to  boil  the  literary  pot,  and  though 
the  collected  Alumni  from  the  palsied  bald-head  of  1784 
to  the  last  Freshman  that  received  his  papers  on  Tuesday 
night,  unite  like  the  Jews  of  old  in  crying  in  the  morn- 
ing 'Would  God  it  were  evening!'  and  in  the  evening 
'Would  God  it  were  morning!'  yet  there  is  never  any 
slacking  off  of  the  savage  heat,  until  the  last  pie-crust 
has  been  swept  from  Harvard  Hall,  and  the  last  rejected 
applicant  has  turned  homewards  his  lingering  steps. 
And  so  I  believe  it  would  be  if  the  powers  that  be  should 
once  more  essay  in  their  wisdom  to  rectify  this  melan- 
choly state  of  things  by  fixing  the  day  before  Christmas 
for  Commencement,  the  Sun  would  once  again  turn  back 
upon  his  course  and  still  ride  in  Cancer  when  he  ought 
to  be  in  Capricornus. 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  191 

"Would  it  not  be  an  interesting  inquiry  for  Professor 
Pierce  who  has  taken  so  much  pains  to  calculate  the 
square  feet  of  foliage  on  the  Washington  Elm  and  the 
number  of  blades  of  grass  on  Cambridge  Common,  to 
find  out  how  many  pounds  of  solid  flesh  are  tried  out  of 
the  3,500  graduates  during  this  blessed  anniversary, 
and  how  many  bucket-fuls  of  liberally  educated  perspira- 
tion go  to  moisten  the  classic  shades  of  our  Alma  Mater 
during  the  same  period. 

"  I  thought  of  you  yesterday  in  your  first  feast  at  the 
table  of  that  Bacchanalian  Society,  *.  B.  K.  I  need 
not  tell  you  how  much  I  should  have  liked  to  sit  down 
with  you  to  another  of  those  sumptuous  banquets  of 
chicken  wings  and  gooseberry  pie  watered  with  the  most 
innocent  soda  and  lemonade,  to  hear  again  Professor 
Bowen's  dyspeptic  jokes,  and  when  Felton  rose  to  speak, 
how  the  smiles  that  rippled  over  his  own  rolling  features, 
gradually  spread  like  the  concentric  circles  in  the  ocean 
throughout  the  whole  assembly.  There  was  one  fine 
thing  always  in  the  performance  of  the  day  after  Com- 
mencement, and  that  was  the  glorious  speech  which  came 
as  a  matter  of  course  from  old  Josiah  Quincy.  The  old 
man  seemed  to  grow  more  genial  and  eloquent  every 
year,  and  if  he  lives  a  half  a  century  longer  I  believe  he 
will  continue  to  be  the  brightest  light  of  Commence- 
ment Week." 

Josiah  Quincy,  1 772-1 864,  Federalist  Congressman, 
1805-1813,  Mayor  of  Boston,  1823-1828,  president  of 
Harvard  College,  1 829-1 845,  is  one  of  the  Harvard  im- 
mortals. To  men  of  Mr.  Choate's  time  and  later, 
"  when  Quincy  was  president "  was  about  the  equiva- 
lent of  the  consule  Planco  of  Horace.     It  is  recorded 


igi  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

that  as  member  of  Congress,  Quincy  opposed  the  em- 
bargo, the  admission  of  Louisiana,  and  the  War  of  1812. 
He  wrote  a  history  of  Harvard  College. 


To  the  Same 

"Saturday  19  July  1856. 

"The  only  subjects  agitated  in  New  York  this  summer 
are  the  weather  and  politics — and  as  soon  as  the  former 
begins  to  abate,  the  latter  will  rage  with  an  ever-increas- 
ing fury  until  the  election  is  over.  We  hope  that  Fremont 
will  do  great  things  here  and  it  is  even  possible  that  he 
may  carry  this  desperate  city,  so  long  the  great  strong- 
hold of  the  false  democracy  and  its  kindred  abomina- 
tions. It  will  indeed  be  a  political  miracle  if  this  youth- 
ful party,  with  young  and  inexperienced  leaders,  and 
with  no  resources  in  public  patronage,  shall  be  able  to 
triumph  over  the  veteran  Democracy,  with  its  thirty 
years  organization  marshalled  by  the  most  wily  and 
unscrupulous  men,  and  backed  by  the  whole  public  and 
private  influence  of  the  federal  government.  But  I  am 
one  of  those  who  believe  that  the  days  of  miracles  are 
not  yet  done,  and  I  trust  that  the  coming  Autumn  will 
not  more  surely  bring  round  the  fall  of  the  leaf,  than 
that  it  will  bring  with  it  the  fall  of  the  ruling  powers  from 
the  high  places  which  they  have  so  long  polluted. 

"With  many  grateful  recollections  of  all  within  your 
household,  I  am, 

Your  loving  friend,        j   R  Ch0AT£  „ 


The  Fremont  campaign  with  which  the  Republican 
party  began  was  very  lively.     Rufus  Choate,  after  deep 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  193 

reflection  and  long  hesitation,  found  himself  unwilling 
to  see  the  country  face  the  consequences  of  Fremont's 
election,  and  came  out  for  Buchanan  in  a  notable  letter. 
Nevertheless,  the  New  England  States,  New  York,  and 
Ohio  went  for  Fremont.  He  had  1 14  electors,  Buchanan 
174,  and  Fillmore  8. 

"Dear  Mother,         " New  York'  7  SePtember>  l8*6 

"You  will  be  surprised  to  hear  that  I  have  become  a 
soldier;  have  been  actually  enrolled  among  the  Fourth 
Regiment  of  uniformed  militia  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  summoned  to  appear  at  the  parade  ground  on  the 
13th  day  of  October  fully  equipped  for  inspection  and 
martial  service.  Don't  you  think  it  will  be  worth  your 
while  to  visit  New  York  on  that  occasion  for  the  sake 
of  seeing  your  youngest  son  in  arms,  marching  to  the 
field  in  the  service  of  his  country?  Who  knows  but  that 
I  may  be  made  corporal  at  the  start  and  rise  in  time  to 
be  a  major  general,  so  at  last  giving  one  answer  to  those 
famous  questions  which  John  Ball  asked:  'What  will 
this  boy  be?  and  this  boy?  and  this  boy?  How  many 
of  'em  will  be  Presidents  of  the  U.  S.  ?  how  many  of  'em 
Governors?  how  many  generals?  etc'  AH  joking  apart 
however  this  enrollment  is  only  an  ingenious  device  on 
the  part  of  the  authorities  to  swell  the  public  funds  by 
gouging  a  pitiful  fine  for  commutation  out  of  every  decent 
man  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 

"Dear  Mother,  "New  York  28  **  l8^ 

"Nothing  in  the  world  has  happened  the  last  week 
and  I  am  sure  I  don't  know  what  to  write;   and  besides 


i94  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

I  have  been  so  busy  all  the  week  as  not  to  have  had  time 
to  turn  round  once,  and  it  has  flown  so  fast  in  consequence 
that  really  we  seem  to  be  just  where  we  were  last  Sun- 
day night  equally  at  a  loss  what  to  say  then.  It  even  re- 
minds me  of  the  old  Cambridge  days  when  we  felt  obliged 
at  least  to  go  through  the  motions  of  letter  writing  when- 
ever the  expressman  came  for  the  valise,  and  the  sum 
and  substance  of  it  all  generally  was  that  we  had  nothing 
to  write,  and  no  time  to  write  it  in.  Or  perhaps  it  is  more 
like  the  time  when  we  made  our  first  experiment  of  all 
in  letter  writing  in  the  old  back-parlor  round  that  great 
square  table,  with  your  mammoth  work  basket  for  a 
post  office,  and  wrote  those  anxious  epistles  to  find  out 
how  we  did,  and  how  we  liked  our  new  post  office. 

"One  thing  I  have  seen  though  that  I  never  saw  be- 
fore— and  that  is  a  crowd.    Mr.  Banks  spoke  on  the  steps 
of  the  Exchange  on  Thursday,  and  it  seemed  as  if  the 
whole  male  population  had  turned  out  to  receive  and 
hear  him.    Wall  St.  was  one  solid  junk  of  men.    No  at- 
tempt was  made,  either,  to  call  the  people  out.     Ther< 
were  no  banners,  no  bands  of  music  &  no  procession, 
But  nevertheless  they  stood  and  looked  at  him,  and  lis- 
tened to  him  patiently  for  two  long  hours,  without  bein 
able  to  hear.    And  that  is  what  I  call  a  flattering  recep- 
tion.    He  certainly  has  left  an  uncommonly  good  im- 
pression on  the  minds  of  the  New  Yorkers  to  whom  h 
was  a  stranger  before,  and  nobody  of  any  party  is  hear* 
to  say  anything  against  Speaker  Banks.         i    u    cy 


There  is  local  pride  in  this  description  of  enthusias] 
in  New  York  for  the  "Bobbin  Boy"  from  Massachusetts, 
at  that  time  the  first  Republican  speaker  of  the  House, 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  195 

elected  to  that  office  on  the  one  hundred   and  thirty- 
third  ballot,  after  a  bitter  two  months'  fight. 


"Dear  Mother:  "New  York'  27  0ctober'  l8*6 

"You  have  heard  of  course  of  my  speech  for  Fremont 
which  was  received  so  kindly  by  my  friends.  Mr.  Hopper 
told  me  he  had  sent  you  one  of  the  famous  handbills 
which  were  certainly  a  great  part  of  the  glory.  If  a  man 
can  ever  speak  for  anything,  now  surely  is  the  time  and 
this  the  cause.    J.  H.  C." 

"Dear  Mother,         "New  York,  2  November,  1856 

"We  commiserated  your  situation  this  last  week  most 
heartily  in  having  to  harbor  and  entertain  such  a  horde 
of  Sunday  School  teachers,  who  are  generally,  so  far  as 
my  experience  goes,  the  most  uninteresting  of  mortals. 
I  hope  that  however  much  has  been  inflicted  upon  you, 

you  had  nobody  quite  so  bad  as  our  old  visitor  Mr. 

but  I  think  the  difference  between  him  and  the  com- 
mon run  of  Sunday  School  teachers  is  only  a  difference 
in  degree  and  not  in  kind.  *  *  * 

"On  Friday  night  I  went  up  the  river  to  Peekskill 
and  addressed  the  Republicans  of  that  village  at  their 
last  Rally  before  election.  It  was  quite  a  different  au- 
dience from  that  which  I  had  here  in  the  city — no  flags 
and  banners — no  music  and  uproar,  but  a  quiet  company 
of  farmers  and  country  mechanics  who  went  as  they 
would  go  to  meeting,  and  sat  with  mouths  and  ears  wide 
open,  drinking  in  everything  that  was  said  like  so  much 
law  and  gospel,  and  signifying  their  approbation  not  so 
much  by  any  tumultuous  applause,  but  each  one  turn- 


196  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

ing  round  to  his  next  neighbor,  when  a  point  was  made, 

and  nodding  knowingly,  as  much  as  to  say  'that's  it.' 

But   I  got  along  very  well  with  them,  and  spoke  an 

hour  and  three  quarters  without  quite  exhausting  their 

patience.    All  the  regular  Republican  orators  about  here 

are  now  thoroughly  used  up.     They  have  been  worked 

to  death,  and  of  course  the  mere  amateurs  like  myself 

have  been  much  in  demand  during  these  last  days  as  a 

fresh  supply.      I  had  invitations  for  nearly  every  night 

the  last  week.  *  *  *  „ 

J.  ri.  C>. 


^         A/f  "New  York,  15  Dec.  1856. 

Dear  Mother,  j  j 


"The  Gibbons  family  are  in  good  condition  and  when- 
ever I  see  them  have  much  to  say  and  ask  about  Salem 
and  Carrie  and  all  of  you.  Just  now  they  are  busy  in 
getting  ready  for  their  annual  Anti-Slavery  Fair,  which 
they  enter  into  with  a  great  deal  of  zeal.  But  it  seems 
to  me  to  be  a  very  doubtful  object,  helping  and  inviting 
the  slaves  to  run  away  from  their  homes  and  owners 


*  *  * 


"Mr.  Wm.  Henry  Hurlbert  whom  you  know  by  repu 
tation  at  least,  has  distinguished  himself  by  an  article 
in  the  Edinburgh  Review  which  created  quite  a  sensation. 
And  of  course  he  is  quite  the  rage  in  certain  circles,  but 
by  and  by  we  shall  see  him  come  down  from  his  high 
horse.    J.  H.  C." 

Already,  it  appears,  in  1856,  it  was  a  mark  of  virtuous 
character  in  New  York  to  disapprove  of  William  Henry 
Hurlbert,  a  clever,  accomplished,  and  interesting  man, 


: 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  197 

who  was  understood  to  pursue  subsistence  and  pleasure 
with  complete  indifference  to  the  Ten  Commandments. 
He  was  reputed  to  be  the  original  of  "  Densdeth  "  in 
Theodore  Winthrop's  novel  "  Cecil  Dreeme."  There 
were  innumerable  stories  about  him.  He  succeeded 
Manton  Marble  as  editor  of  The  World,  and  got  control 
of  it  and  sold  it  to  Joseph  Pulitzer. 

Regaling  his  mother  on  the  first  Sunday  of  1857  with 
some  account  of  his  exploits  as  a  New  Year's  caller, 
Joseph  goes  on  to  say: 

"On  Friday  I  had  the  distinguished  honor  of  an  inter- 
view with  Colonel  Fremont.  Mr.  Gould,  whose  business 
relations  with  the  Colonel  are  intimate,  sent  for  me  to 
come  over  to  his  office  and  meet  him.  I  found  him  very 
pleasant  &  affable,  and  we  sat  down  and  had  a  quiet 
conversation.  He  is  a  much  better  looking  man  than 
you  would  suppose  from  his  pictures — not  half  so  hand- 
some and  oily  as  they  make  him  out  to  be,  and  nobody 
I  think  can  see  him  without  admiring.  *  *  *  " 

But  other  thoughts  than  politics  keep  working  in  his 
mind.  "I  give  you  joy,"  he  writes  to  his  mother  on 
January  25,  "on  having  our  birthdays  come  around  once 
more  and  finding  us  both  with  so  much  to  be  thankful 
for.  I  must  say,  however,  that  I  am  not  a  little  disgusted 
to  find  myself  a  quarter  of  a  century  old  and  yet  nothing 
better  in  the  world  than  a  poor  'lawyer's  clerk.'  I  am 
getting  more  and  more  impatient  of  this  crawling  pace 
at  which  all  of  us  young  men  are  condemned  to  jog  along, 
and  find  it  very  hard  sometimes  to  keep  from  grumbling. 
One  thing  I  have  resolved  upon  and  that  is,  when  the 
time  of  my  clerkship  expires  the  first  of  May  to  wait 


198  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

no  longer  for  something  to  turn  up,  but  to  strike  out  for 
myself  and  see  what  can  be  done.  I  may  want  consider- 
able ' boosting'  for  a  year  or  two,  but  certainly  no  more 
now,  than  will  be  necessary  at  the  start  however  long  I 
wait." 


Again  he  writes  to  her  (April  13): 

"I  have  been  considering  a  proposition  to  go  down 
and  practise  law  in  the  rural  districts  of  Pennsylvania, 
down  among  the  coal  mines,  and  though  the  offer  comes 
with  a  guaranty  of  considerable  business  there,  you  may 
judge  pretty  well  in  what  decision  my  consideration  will 
result.  I  do  hate  the  country  from  the  bottom  of  my 
soul.  My  plans  are  fixed  and  I  do  not  see  any  wisdom 
in  turning  aside  for  any  trifling  allurements." 

"I  hope,"  he  tells  her  on  May  17th,  "that  your  anti- 
abolition  principles  may  not  be  shocked  to  hear  that 
one  morning  last  week  I  breakfasted  with  Wm.  Lloyd 
Garrison  at  John  Hopper's,  and  found  him  excellent  com- 
pany. Indeed  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  such  a  mild  and 
benevolent  old  man  could  ever  have  delighted  in  stirring 
up  the  people  to  mobs. 

"I  shall  be  delighted  to  see  George  and  Sue  tomorrow, 
for  this  being  cut  off  from  all  one's  kith  and  kin  and  see- 
ing only  a  49th  cousin  occasionally  is  not  so  satisfactory 
to  me  as  it  would  be  to  one  less  troubled  with  family 
pride.  *  *  * " 

Whenever  the  call  came  from  Harvard  College  his 
heart  always  responded,  whether  he  could  yield  to  its 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  199 

promptings  or  not.    Thus,  he  writes  on  June  6,  to  J.  H. 
Clark: 

"Dear  Jo: 

"I  thank  you  for  the  promise  of  a  hearty  welcome  at 
Cambridge  on  class-day — but  cannot  come.  Our  courts 
do  not  adjourn  for  the  summer  until  the  end  of  June, 
and  it  is  not  well  for  a  young  and  almost  briefless  bar- 
rister like  me  to  run  away  before  that.  I  have  no  doubt, 
however,  that  the  class-day  performances  of  1857  will 
be  inferior  to  none  of  the  past,  excepting  always  and 
everywhere  the  inimitable  and  unapproachable  class  of 
' 52.  When  I  consider  how  many  stars  there  were  in  our 
galaxy  and  how  bright  they  were,  I  am  lost  in  wonder 
as  to  what  could  have  been  the  design  of  Providence,  in 
robbing  whole  generations  before  and  after  of  so  much 
glory  to  concentrate  it  all  upon  one  single  year.  The 
unusual  modesty  of  this  train  of  thought  may  surprise 
you,  but  I  want  to  impress  upon  your  mind  the  fact  that 
there  have  been  other  classes  besides  yours,  who  without 
any  unwarrantable  conceit  or  vainglory  regarded  them- 
selves as  the  brightest  band  of  Alumni. 

"The  glimpse  which  your  last  letter  has  given  me  of 
the  present  unwholesome  state  of  College  morals  is  mourn- 
ful and  shocking.  For  the  Senior  Class  to  engage  in  the 
lawless  sport  of  a  boat  race  is  bad  enough,  but  that  they 
should  so  far  forget  that  they  are  a  prominent  and  re- 
sponsible part  of  an  institution  whose  only  motto  is 
'Christo  et  Ecclesiae*  as  to  stake  each  man  of  them  his 
'last  red'  upon  the  success  of  the  Huron,  and  after  all  to 
lose  it,  is  inconceivably  disgraceful.  It  is  consoling,  how- 
ever, to  think  that  the  new  chapel  is  fast  growing  to  com- 
pletion, which  will  afford  room  for  a  more  enlarged  and 


200 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


commodious  Christianity,  and  for  a  wider  dissemination 
of  religious  sentiment  among  the  undergraduates  so  that 
the  next  generation  of  students  perhaps  will  decline  to 
join  a  regatta,  or  if  they  go,  will  not  bet,  or  if  they  bet, 
will  win. 

"  I  am  anxious  to  hear  what  is  to  become  of  you  after 
leaving  college.  Have  you  chosen  the  law? — for  of  course 
you  have  chosen  by  this  time. 

"I  hope  to  be  in  Cambridge  at  Commencement  and 
to  partake  of  the  feast  of  eloquence  which  is  getting  ready 
for  that  occasion. 

"Have  you  yet  selected  the  subject  for  your  oration? 
Why  not  give  us  something  about  'The  Progress  of  Mod- 
ern Science  as  exhibited  in  boat-building' — or  'Olympic 
and  American  Games  compared  and  contrasted' — or  a 
poem  suggested  by  the  words  of  the  scriptural  minstrel. 

"  'The  race  is  not  unto  the  swift. 
Nor  them  that  fastest  run. 
Nor  the  battell  to  them  peopell 
That's  got  the  longest  gun.' 

"Taking  this  opportunity  to  renew  to  your  uncle  and 
aunt  the  assurance  of  the  continuance  of  my  distinguished 
consideration,  I  am, 

Sincerely  yours,    ^  R  Choate 


The  panic  of  '57  dates  from  late  in  August  of  that  year. 
It  must  be  that  when  the  litany  was  put  together  in  the 
prayer-book  the  religious  world  had  had  no  large  experi- 
ence of  money  panics,  for  they  are  not  included  in  the 
list  of  afflictions  from  which  the  good  Lord  is  besought  to 
deliver  us.  But  nowadays  they  might  be  included,  for 
they  are  very  sore  afflictions,  much  dreaded  and  long 


EARLY  DAYS  IN  NEW  YORK  201 

remembered.  The  panic  of  '57  was  one  that  bankers' 
children  still  tremble  to  hear  of.  There  were  warnings 
about  it  as  early  as  March  and  April.  In  Rhodes's  rt  His- 
tory' '  it  tells  how  Greeley  said  in  The  Tribune  in  April 
that  the  United  States  had  run  too  deeply  in  debt  to  Eu- 
rope, and  that  everybody  owed  too  much.  By  the  Fourth 
of  July  there  was  talk  of  hard  times,  and  ready  money  was 
hard  to  get.  On  the  24th  of  August  the  Ohio  Life  In- 
surance and  Trust  Company  of  Cincinnati  and  New  York 
failed  for  seven  millions,  and  stocks  fell.  On  September 
25  the  Bank  of  Pennsylvania  at  Philadelphia  suspended, 
runs  began  on  all  Philadelphia  banks,  and  their  presidents 
by  unanimous  resolution  suspended  specie  payments. 
On  October  13  New  York  City  passed  the  same  resolu- 
tion, to  take  effect  the  next  day.  The  banks  of  New  Eng- 
land, New  York  State,  and  New  Jersey  followed  suit. 
Business  was  not  really  good  again  until  i860.  Horace 
Greeley  said  the  cause  of  the  panic  was  the  modification 
of  the  tariff  of  1842.  Mr.  Rhodes,  the  historian,  finds 
it  due  mainly  to  expansion  of  credit  induced  by  rapid 
building  of  new  railroads  and  by  the  new  supply  of  gold 
from  California.  Many  affluent  families  lost  fortunes, 
and  there  are  still  people  active  and  useful  in  the  world 
who  grew  up  industrious  by  necessity  because  of  the  ef- 
fects of  that  panic.  So  perhaps  panics  will  never  get 
into  the  litany  after  all. 

The  panic  was  under  full  headway  in  New  York  when 
Joseph  wrote  on  October  12,  1857: 

"Dear  Mother, 

"  There  is  nothing  to  speak  of  this  week.     Nobody 
talks  of  anything  else  but  the  hard  times. 

"The  money  panic  rages  like  a  hurricane  or  a  devour- 


202 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


ing  fire,  and  sweeps  off  everybody  that  stands  in  its  way, 
without  regard  to  their  strength  or  respect  to  their  per- 
sons. Everybody  predicts  a  most  extensive  destitution 
among  working  men  and  women  the  coming  winter,  and 
really  it  does  seem  inevitable,  such  vast  numbers  in  every 
department  of  trade  and  manufactures  are  daily  losing 
their  employment,  and  being  cast  upon  the  world  penni- 
less and  starving.  Their  wages  in  the  best  times  an 
no  more  than  enough  to  supply  daily  bread  and  very  few 
of  them  would  lay  up  anything  if  they  got  more.  This 
is  the  most  grievous  part  of  the  present  calamities  and 
in  comparison  with  it  the  distresses  of  great  operators 
and  5th  Avenue  Nabobs  are  insignificant,  although,  to 
be  sure,  we  have  seen  and  are  seeing  some  proud  heads 
in  those  quarters  brought  very  low. 

"The  ministers  hereabouts  are  making  great  capital 
of  the  general  commotion  and  weekly  draw  crowded 
houses  to  hear  their  eloquent  speculations,  which  for 
the  lack  of  a  little  fleshly  wisdom  shed  very  little  light 
upon  the  question.  There  is  a  widespread  supposition 
which  is  as  mistaken  as  it  is  general  that  the  lawyers  grow 
fat  in  these  times  upon  the  general  leanness  of  the  land. 
For  aught  that  I  can  see,  we  lose  our  full  proportion  of 
bad  debts,  and  are  busily  employed  just  now  at  the  ex- 
pense of  next  year's  work." 

A  week  later  he  says: 


"Banks,  hard-times  and  the  panic  absorbed  all  atten- 
tion a  week  ago,  but  that  has  mostly  subsided  now. 
People  have  made  up  their  minds  like  Mark  Tapley  to 
be  jolly  under  the  most  inauspicious  circumstances,  and 
have  gone  about  it  accordingly. 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  203 

"Dr.  Bellows  yesterday  preached  a  panic  sermon,  in 
which  he  strongly  deprecated  the  spirit  of  economy  & 
retrenchment  which  is  awakened  everywhere,  and  urged 
his  people  to  live  just  as  they  had  been  living,  and  to 
keep  up  their  usual  style.  But  some  old  codgers,  and 
there  are  not  a  few  of  them  in  his  congregation,  shrugged 
their  shoulders." 

In  the  course  of  a  month  he  is  able  to  write  on  politics 
again,  and  says: 

"If  you  are  one  of  the  anti-Wood  party  you  will  be 
delighted  to  know  that  we  made  a  grand  demonstration 
against  the  scoundrel  Saturday  afternoon  at  the  Ex- 
change; about  ten  thousand  people  got  together  and 
'resolved*  to  vote  for  somebody  else  for  Mayor.  But 
the  difficulty  is  that  it  was  a  well-dressed  multitude  and 
didn't  include  enough  Irishmen,  who  are  all  sworn  into 
the  service  of  the  present  usurper." 

The  mayor  was  beaten  for  re-election  by  about  two 
thousand  votes. 

A  week  later  he  writes: 

"  I  believe  there  is  another  money  panic  in  Wall  Street 
today,  consequent  upon  the  European  news,  but  whether 
it  is  as  bad  as  the  last  I  have  not  heard.  You  see  people 
are  now  getting  used  to  trouble  and  it  don't  hurt  'em." 

December  13  he  writes  to  his  sister: 

"Dear  Carrie: 

"The  last  week  I  have  been  quite  dissipated  having 
attended  a  dancing  party  and  a  dinner  party.    The  first 


204  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

at  Miss  Tracy's  (not  that  Miss  Lucy  Tracy,  about  whom, 
as  I  have  been  told,  you  indulged  in  a  family  panic  some 
time  ago  for  my  sake,  and  who  is  soon  to  be  married  to 
a  distinguished  Bostonian)  but  Miss  Annie  Tracy,  one 
of  the  prettiest  girls  in  all  New  York,  and  who  will  one 
day,  if  prophets  tell  the  truth  be  the  wife  of  Mr.  Church, 
the  great  artist.  There  has  been  a  new  dance  introduced 
here  of  late,  called  the  Lancers,  which  to  me  is  and  will 
ever  be  a  mystery  and  a  labyrinth.  The  only  clue  to 
its  windings  which  I  can  find  is  to  cling  to  my  partner 
with  'an  unfaltering  trust,'  and  plunge  headlong  on. 

"Last  night  I  went  out  to  dine  at  Mr.  Gould's,  with 
Dr.  Charles  Mackay  (pronounce  that  Mackeye)  the 
famous  Scotchman,  who  wrote  'There's  a  good  time 
coming,  boys !'  and  other  popular  songs,  and  who  is  now 
reaping  more  or  less  of  a  harvest  by  lecturing  here.  The 
company  was  not  large  enough  to  lionize  him,  and  he 
behaved  like  a  quiet  &  well-bred  gentleman — but  in  out- 
ward appearance  he  was  no  more  like  my  idea  of  a  great 
lyric  poet,  than  Miah  Brown  or  Annie — but  it  may  be 
the  oats,  which  as  Dr.  Johnson  says  are  the  staple  food 
of  Scotchmen  &  which  give  him  the  look  he  has." 

After  long  hesitation  he  changes  his  boarding  place: 

"Dear  Mother,  "New  York,  Jan'y  18,  1858. 

"At  last,  after  many  struggles  and  much  perturbation 
of  mind  on  the  subject  I  have  resolved  to  move.  I  shall 
be  living  after  this  week  at  the  house  of  Mr.  David  Hyatt, 
No.  119^  Ninth  Street,  about  half  way  between  Broad- 
way &  University  Place,  being  half  a  block  about  west 
of  Broadway. 


EARLY  DAYS  IN  NEW  YORK  205 

"There  are  but  five  or  six  other  boarders  in  the  house 
and  all  those  gentlemen,  so  that  I  shall  certainly  be  rid 
of  many  of  the  inconveniences  and  disagreeable  accom- 
paniments of  the  Caravansary  where  I  have  been  living 
so  much  longer  than  I  meant,  or  had  occasion,  to.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C" 

Neither  law  nor  politics  absorbed  all  his  attention. 
He  writes,  February  28,  1858,  to  his  sister: 

"Dear  Carrie, 

"I  write  this  letter  to  you  because  I  have  a  very  im- 
portant announcement  to  make,  which  will  doubtless 
be  of  becoming  interest  to  you.  And  that  is  that  a  lady 
of  distinguished  position  in  society  here,  a  leader  of  the 
fashion,  arrived  here  last  week  from  Paris  without  hoops. 
It  is  believed  that  this  marks  the  beginning  of  the  decline 
of  the  present  fashion,  and  that  very  soon  those  inflated 
locomotives  which  have  hitherto  passed  in  our  streets 
for  ladies,  will  be  remembered  among  the  things  that 
were.  By  and  by,  perhaps,  thirty-six  yards  will  make 
two  dresses  instead  of  one  as  at  present.  Have  scarlet 
petticoats  yet  been  introduced  in  New  England?  I  as- 
sure you  that  in  these  muddy  seasons  when  the  outmost 
skirts  are  lifted  out  of  danger,  they  present  a  unique  and 
brilliant  spectacle. 

"The  sewing  machine  must  really  work  a  complete 
and  manifest  revolution  in  your  domestic  affairs.  Where 
is  the  creature  kept?  What  does  it  look  like,  and  how 
does  it  go? 

"If  it  involves  the  working  of  all  the  limbs  at  once 
as  you  suggested,  won't  it  be  an  excellent  preventative 
for  Mother's  rheumatism?    I  am  quite  sure  of  that,  and 


206 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


don't  believe  the  rheumatism  and  the  machine  can  be 
kept  in  the  house  together. 

"Has  the  religious  revival  reached  Salem  yet?  Here 
it  is  quite  the  thing,  especially  among  the  negroes  and 
the  broken-down  stock  gamblers.  Some  of  Mayor  Wood's 
disbanded  policemen,  several  aldermen  and  common 
scoundrels,  also  take  prominent  parts  in  the  movement, 
and  everybody  prophesies,  and  the  clergy  hope,  that  the 
'Church'  will  be  replenished  and  recreated. 

"Dr.  Bellows,  to  be  sure,  broke  ground  against  it  last 
night,  but  then,  you  know,  he  is  'only  a  Unitarian/  and 
besides  all  the  seats  in  his  church  are  taken,  so  that  noth- 
ing is  to  be  gained  by  it." 

To  John  Hopper,  brother  of  Mrs.  Gibbons,  and  his 
wife  Rosa  a  son  was  born  in  the  spring  of  '58,  who  was 
christened  William  De  Wolf  Hopper,  and  attained  in 
due  time  to  very  extended  fame.  Joseph's  intimacy 
with  the  Gibbonses  and  Hoppers,  and  delight  in  them, 
made  him  feel  that  something  unusual  should  be  done 
to  express  approval  of  the  coming  of  this  child,  whose 
arrival  had  produced  the  more  excitement  because  he 
was  the  first-born  of  parents  who  had  been  married  for 
sixteen  years.  What  was  done  is  related  in  a  letter, 
dated  April  23,  to  his  sister: 


"Dear  Carrie, 

"I  must  tell  you  about  our  demonstration  last  night, 
because  you  will  see  nothing  about  it  in  the  public  prints, 
and  because  it  was  the  proudest  triumph  of  Christian 
Socialism  that  the  world  has  yet  witnessed. 

"You  must  know  that  ever  since  the  coming  of  'our 
baby'  Carter  and  Thayer  and  I  have  been  burning  to 
give  its  father  and  mother  a  manifestation  of  our  in- 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  207 

terest  in  an  event  so  important  to  them  individually 
and  to  the  Church  in  which  we  alone  as  yet  occupy  the 
front  seats. 

"AH  that  we  waited  for  was  for  Rosa  to  be  pronounced 
well  enough  to  bear  and  to  enjoy  a  little  fun,  for  without 
her  it  would  have  come  to  nothing.  We  concluded  that 
a  surprise  visit  of  all  their  best  friends  at  20  Third  St. 
and  a  little  supper  would  be  the  best  shape  which  the 
occasion  could  assume.  Accordingly  it  came  off  last 
night  and  was  a  perfect  success.  Mrs.  Gibbons  was  first 
taken  into  the  cabinet,  and  by  her  aid  we  concocted  the 
scheme.  She  took  possession  of  the  house  in  the  after- 
noon and  spoilt  the  family  dinner,  so  that  they  might 
not  be  unprepared  for  what  was  to  come,  and  at  7  o'clock 
packed  John  off  to  29th  St.  after  the  girls,  who  were  all 
ready.  This  was  the  signal  for  us  to  rally  and  arrange 
the  *  fixings,'  which  consisted  in  the  first  place  of  a  good 
supply  of  flowers — quite  a  pretty  bouquet  for  each  lady 
that  was  expected,  and  a  grand  central  pyramid  for  the 
general  eye  to  feast  upon.  The  care  and  arrangement 
of  the  supper  were  left  with  an  Ethiopian  expert  retained 
for  the  occasion  and  just  enough  good  wine  provided  to 
touch  everybody  off.  To  avoid  confusion  everybody's 
seat  was  assigned  and  marked  before  hand,  Carter  taking 
the  head  &  I  the  foot  of  the  table,  while  the  Lamb  was 
to  have  his  post  at  the  right  hand  of  Mrs.  Hopper,  the 
Chief  Divinity  of  the  evening.  By  the  time  all  was  ready 
the  party  from  29th  Street  arrived  and  were  warmly 
welcomed.  John  &  Rosa  didn't  yet  know  what  to  make 
of  it,  only  something  strange  was  coming  to  pass.  Mr. 
Hopper's  household,  the  Gibbonses,  Wm.  &  Haven  Em- 
erson, Frank  Smith,  Cutler  &  the  Socialists,  with  Miss 
Emma  Stimson  of  Providence  who  is  staying  with  the 
Gibbonses,  made  up  the  complement  of  18.     Miss  Stim- 


208 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


son  had  never  seen  any  of  the  rites  or  ceremonials  of  our 
church  before,  but  she  'fused'  at  once.  By  and  by  the 
Bell  rang  and  we  went  down  to  supper.  The  table  looked 
beautiful  and  at  the  sight  of  it  John  and  Rosa  were 
quite  overcome.  We  began  very  mildly  but  pretty  soon 
that  mysterious  spirit  which  the  Quakers  talk  about, 
began  to  move  us  all,  and  immediately  there  was  a  per- 
fect and  universal  'fusion.'  From  soup  to  coffee  lasted 
about  two  hours  and  a  half,  and  first  and  last  there  was 
a  good  deal  of  fun.  I  never  saw  any  company  quite  so 
happy  before,  and  what  delighted  us  most  was  to  see 
the  perfect  effect  which  our  good  intentions  had  on  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hopper.  Mrs.  Gibbons,  too,  was  in  her  glory, 
and  Mr.  Gibbons  and  Aunt  Susan,  who  have  hitherto 
been  disposed  to  shrug  their  shoulders  at  Christian 
Socialism,  fairly  knocked  under.  Mrs.  De  Wolf  was 
almost  crazy  she  was  so  happy.  Within  three  weeks 
she  has  had  two  grandsons  born  and  her  son  William 
Henry,  'Our  Bill/  who  has  been  on  a  voyage  round  the 
world,  got  home  in  the  interval  and  was  by  her  side. 
Letters  and  telegrams  were  received  from  foreign  friends 
of  'the  order/  which  manifested  a  proper  sympathy  in 
the  occasion,  and  showed  that  the  name  and  knowledge 
of  the  first-and-Iast-born  member  of  the  sect  has  already 
reached  from  shore  to  shore.  To  crown  all  'the  little 
expounder*  himself  was  brought  down  by  his  nurse,  and 
passed  round  in  the  arms  of  his  mother.  He  kept  his 
eyes  wide  open,  behaved  splendidly  throughout,  and 
expressed  the  utmost  satisfaction  with  the  prospect  be- 
fore him.  Then  Mr.  Cutler  recited  an  ode  which  he  had 
prepared.  'Old  Lang  Syne*  closed  all,  and  the  company 
separated;  that  is  to  say,  those  who  still  occupy  the 
anxious  benches  were  dismissed  with  strong  hope  of  pro- 
motion by  and  by,  while  we  who  have  attained  and  filled 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  209 

the  front  seats,  remained  and  held  a  secret  session  with 
closed  doors.  First,  however,  by  a  particular  &  special 
act  of  grace,  the  seal  was  set  forever  upon  the  most  per- 
fect union  among  us  of  which  humanity  admits. 

"Now  wasn't  this  an  excellent  way  to  celebrate  and 
acknowledge  this  last  dispensation  of  a  kind  Providence? 
And  may  we  not  point  with  pride  to  the  result?  Why, 
only  two  years  ago,  our  famous  founder  could  lay  his 
hands  upon  his  heart  and  say  'Among  thirty  millions 
I  am  the  only  Christian  Socialist  in  America'  and  now 
behold  to  what  we  have  come !  Christian  Socialism  had 
its  origin,  like  all  great  reforms  that  have  been  called 
for  and  have  come,  in  the  weaknesses  and  vices  of  man- 
kind, I  may  say,  in  the  greatest  weakness  and  the  greatest 
vice  which  mankind  has  known,  for  I  think  that  nothing 
in  that  line  can  possibly  go  ahead  of  'our  Shepherd'  in 
his  best  estate.  But  if  we  go  on  as  we  have  begun  the 
time  is  at  hand  when  vice  and  weakness  will  no  more 
be  known,  and  the  principles  we  cherish  will  have  ful- 
filled their  perfect  work.  T    H    P " 


The  following  announcement  marks  an  important 
step  in  the  progress  of  an  aspiring  young  lawyer,  the 
details  of  which  have  been  narrated  in  Mr.  Choate's 
"Boyhood  and  Youth": 

"OFFICE  OF  CHOATE  &  BARNES 
"No.  62  Wall  Street 

«p.         ~  "New  York,  August  2,  1858. 

"We  have  formed  a  partnership  for  the  practice  of 
Law,  and  hereby  respectfully  inform  you  that  on  and 


2io  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

after  September  ist,  1858,  we  shall  be  happy  to  attend 
to  any  business  in  the  various  branches  of  the  profession 
which  you  may  be  pleased  to  entrust  to  us. 
Very  Truly  Yours, 

Joseph  H.  Choate, 
William  H.  L.  Barnes." 

The  new  office  opened  on  September  1,  and  Joseph 
writes  his  sister  (September  6) : 

"Dear  Lizzie, 

"  I  can  hardly  convey  to  you  an  idea  of  the  delightful 
sensation  arising  from  being  my  own  master  here  in  my 
own  office.  Over  the  other  side  of  the  way  I  undoubtedly 
enjoyed  great  advantages  for  some  time,  but  toward 
the  end  the  kind  of  villenage  to  which  I  was  necessarily 
subject  grew  very  irksome.  I  now  begin  to  realize  the 
experience  of  our  fathers  after  their  great  and  famous 
declaration  of  independence.,, 

To  his  mother  he  writes,  September  13:  "You  will 
be  glad  to  know  that  this  firm  of  ours  feels  greatly  en- 
couraged by  its  first  week's  experience  &  business.  We 
have  done  something  already,  at  any  rate  enough  to 
pay  our  first  quarter's  rent.  Mr.  Barnes  is  all  that  can 
be  desired  as  you  will  all  say  when  you  come  to  know 
him,  and  I  mean  you  shall  soon  do  so.  *  *  *  " 

The  firm  was  still  prospering  a  month  later  when  he 
wrote  to  his  sister: 

"Dear  Lizzie, 

"The  firm  of  Choate  &  Barnes  continues  to  flourish 
in  a  small  way;   that  is  to  say,  after  the  manner  of  all 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  211 

beginners.  In  process  of  time  we  shall  doubtless  gather 
an  excellent  business.  I  want  you  all  to  know  and  like 
my  partner,  who  upon  closer  acquaintance  develops 
gloriously.  We  have  been  living  together  for  about  a 
month  in  Ninth  Street,  and  like  Codling  &  Short  who 
took  such  good  care  of  little  Nell  and  her  grandfather, 
'we  are  partners  in  everything.'  In  fact  Codling  &  Short 
is  between  ourselves  only  another  name  for  Choate  & 
Barnes.  We  are  not  busy  all  the  time,  but  believe  that 
we  are  making  money  faster  than  we  have  ever  done 
before,  and  so  we  are  content  to  bide  our  time.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 

It  had  gone  on  into  the  new  year  when  he  wrote  to 
his  mother  (January  4,  1859):  "On  Thursday  night 
my  friend  Mr.  Butler  retired  from  the  Bar  at  a  dinner 
at  the  Astor  House  given  him  by  his  old  partners,  Mr. 
Evarts  &  Southmayd.  Nobody  had  ever  heard  before 
of  a  lawyer  making  a  fortune  and  retiring  at  the  age  of 
40,  and  certainly  the  dinner  was  as  unique  as  the  occa- 
sion. Sixteen  of  us  sat  down  at  six  o'clock  and  when  I 
tell  you  that  we  sat  till  one  in  the  morning  you  can  imagine 
that  we  had  a  good  time." 

He  was  still  the  senior  member  of  Choate  &  Barnes 
when  he  wrote  her,  on  January  25 : 

"Yesterday  was  my  birthday  which  I  celebrated  by 
going  to  Quaker  Meeting  to  hear  Lucretia  Mott,  who  is, 
you  know,  a  chief  speaker  among  the  friends.  She  cer- 
tainly held  forth  in  a  very  modest  and  powerful  manner, 
and  remembering  where  we  were,  it  was  quite  pleasant  to 
hear  her.    We  were  also  exhorted  by  a  venerable  sister 


212  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

named  Katy  Brown  who  has  reached  the  advanced  age 
of  95  years.  Time  had  treated  her  vocal  organs  in  a  most 
shocking  manner,  but  as  it  was  clearly  a  manifestation 
of  the  spirit,  we  were  of  course  spell-bound.  I  kept  on 
my  hat  during  a  considerable  part  of  the  services,  and 
as  it  was  a  new  one,  was  not  ashamed  when  among  the 
Quakers  to  do  as  they  do.  *  *  *  " 

"Dear  Carrie,"  he  wrote  to  his  sister,  on  March  7: 
"You  will  be  interested  to  know  that  your  friend  Mr. 
Hopper  has  bought  a  new  house.  And  where  do  you 
think?  In  Forty-Third  Street  between  Broadway  and 
Sixth  Avenue,  which  is  just  above  the  Croton  Reservoir. 
His  friends  will  bid  him  a  last  farewell  before  the  1st  of 
May,  which  is  the  time  appointed  for  him  to  take  the 
young  Hopper  and  his  mother  and  flee  into  that  far  coun- 
try." 

Still  the  firm  of  Choate  &  Barnes  held  on,  but  the 
shadow  of  dissolution  now  falls  on  it,  as  he  discloses  to 
his  mother  on  March  21 : 

"I  dined  yesterday  with  Mr.  Hopper  and  took  tea 
with  Mrs.  Evarts.  My  fates  seem  to  be  inevitably  lead- 
ing me  back  to  No.  2  Hanover  Street,  or  at  any  rate  they 
will  not  keep  quiet  while  I  am  anywhere  else.  Mr.  E. 
is  again  urging  a  connection  upon  the  basis  of  a  fair  share 
in  the  present  business  and  a  sure  prospect  of  the  regular 
succession.  An  established  law  office  in  New  York  is 
like  a  mercantile  establishment  anywhere  offering  a  sure 
reward  to  any  one  who  gets  into  it.  Besides  Messrs. 
E.  &  S/s  office  is  almost  by  general  consent  the  best  one 
in  the  city,  and  its  prospects  are  wonderfully  good.    Under 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  213 

all  the  circumstances  you  must  not  be  surprised  to  hear 
of  my  having  determined  upon  a  speedy  change  in  busi- 
ness. My  only  embarrassment  arises  from  the  absence 
of  Mr.  Barnes  (in  Europe)  who  however  writes  me  that 
he  will  speedily  return.  I  wish  that  Father  would  give 
me  his  advice  in  the  matter." 

"62  Wall  St. 

«w    r-v         t-  "New  York,  March  25,  1859 

My  Dear  Father: 

"The  fact  is  that  I  haven't  gone  so  far  as  to  talk  about 
terms  with  Mr.  E.  except  that  we  start  upon  the  under- 
standing that  those  shall  be  satisfactory  to  both  of  us. 
In  short  I  should  be  perfectly  content  to  leave  all  that 
to  Mr.  E.  &  Mr.  S.  who  will  not  attempt  a  hard  bargain. 
They  desire  a  connexion,  more  on  their  own  account 
than  on  mine,  and  will  expect  to  pay  for  it.  The  least 
that  they  will  offer  will  probably  be  better  than  the  best 
I  can  expect  from  my  present  arrangement  for  some  time 
to  come,  while  the  ultimate  gain  is  unquestionable.  As 
they  both  say,  it  is  not  probable  that  either  of  them  will 
continue  in  full  practice  ten  years  longer.  The  part  of 
the  business  they  would  like  me  to  undertake  is  that 
which  best  suits  my  tastes  and  capacities. 

"Our  business  has  been  good  for  new  beginners,  but 
the  sources  of  it  are  few  and,  I  think,  precarious  and  I 
have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  in  case  of  my  de- 
sertion Mr.  Barnes  will  retain  it  all,  as  it  comes  chiefly 
from  common  friends,  upon  whom  however  he  has  a 
more  intimate  hold  than  I.  My  chief  hesitation  arises 
from  the  fact  that  Mr.  B.  will  be  sadly  disappointed  and 
because  he  particularly  needs  some  sedate  partner  like 
myself.  (There,  I  guess  you  never  expected  to  hear  me 
boast  of  sedateness  to  the  father  of  three  such  other  sons. 


2i4  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

But  strange  as  it  may  appear,  I  have  got  quite  a  name 
for  that  quality,  which  illustrates  the  rule  that  a  man 
never  gets  credit  for  all  that  belongs  to  him  until  he 
quits  his  own  country.)  Mr.  B.  certainly  does  need  some- 
body to  act  as  a  balance,  or  a  drag  on  his  extraordinary 
motive  power.  But  he  has  a  brother  in  Albany  who  is 
just  about  to  commence  practising  law  here,  who  will 
serve  well  in  that  capacity. 

"On  the  whole,  then,  I  have  pretty  nearly  concluded, 
unless  you  can  present  some  strong  argument  against 
it,  to  enter  upon  the  way  to  fortune  which  seems  now 
to  open  before  me. 

With  much  love 

I  am  ever  yours       T    „    p» 

He  writes  to  his  mother,  still  from  the  office  of  Choate 
&  Barnes,  on  May  3 :  "*  *  *  Great  regret  is  felt  here  at  the 
death  of  Nicholas  Hill  in  Albany  by  far  the  greatest  law- 
yer in  the  State.  He  actually  worked  himself  to  death. 
He  never  did  anything  but  work."  But  on  August  1 
he  dates  from  the  office  of  Evarts,  Southmayd  &  Choate 
a  letter  in  which  he  says  to  her:  "*  *  *  I  never  feel  my 
loneliness  here  in  New  York  so  much  as  on  returning 
from  home  in  summer  time.  There  is  nobody  here,  and 
very  little  to  do,  so  that  I  have  a  fine  chance  to  relapse 
into  the  blues  and  homesickness.  t    tj    r>  » 

Fragments  of  other  letters  follow: 

■_1  *M  "New  York,  3  October  1859. 

"Dear  Mother, 

"Yesterday  I  travelled  to  Jersey  City  to  hear  Henry 

Brown  my  classmate.     Dr.  Bellows  pronounces  him  to 


DOCTOR  GEORGE  CHOATE  (1796-1880). 
From  a  photograph  taken  when  he  was  about  sixty-six  years  old. 


EARLY  DAYS   IN  NEW  YORK  215 

be  a  '  very  sweet '  person.  I  liked  him  very  much  indeed. 
Tomorrow  I  am  going  to  a  clerical  dinner  to  meet  the 
Revs.  Bellows  &  Frothingham,  so  you  see  that  if  I  don't 
get  to  be  spiritually-minded  it  will  be  no  fault  of  mine. 

J.  H.  C" 

<<rA         w  "New  York,  21  May  i860. 

"Dear  Mother,  *  *  * 

"Mr.  Evarts  has  not  yet  got  home  from  the  West, 

but  I  expect  him  daily  to  appear  very  much  crestfallen. 

He  was  so  entirely  devoted  to  Seward's  success  that  the 

nomination  in  which  the  convention  resulted  will  hardly 

satisfy  him-  Yours-J.  H.  C» 

The  nomination,  of  course,  was  that  of  Lincoln. 

((rx         . .  "New  York,  11  June  i860. 

Dear  Mother, 

"We  are  all  on  tiptoe  just  now  to  see  the  Japanese, 

and  after  them  the  Great  Eastern,  and  after  her,  the  Prince 

of  Wales,  all  which  entertainments  are  promised  us  for 

the  summer.  T    H    P " 

ut^         t-  *  *  *     "New  York,  Dec.  31st,  i860. 

Dear  Father,  *  *  *  ° 

"  I  want  very  much  to  have  a  first  rate  photograph  of 

my  father,  and  as  he  seems  to  have  some  very  persistent 

scruples  against  submitting  to  the  operation,  I  want  to 

enlist  your  aid  in  my  behalf.     I  think  you  have  a  good 

deal  of  influence  with  him,  and  if  you  represent  the  matter 

to  him  in  its  true  light,  I  think  you  will  readily  overcome 

all  his  objections.    He  has  you  know,  now,  a  large  number 

of  descendants  in  two  generations,  and  is  likely  to  have 


216  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

many  more,  and  they  demand  some  worthy  memorial 
of  him.  They  are  as  you  must  have  observed,  although 
they  are  not  a  demonstrative  race,  very  fond  of  him  and 
very  proud  of  him,  and  whether  rightly  or  wrongly  they 
are  particularly  proud  of  his  good  looks.  Well,  as  matters 
now  stand  if  anything  should  befall  him  we  should  be 
utterly  without  any  fitting  counterfeit  of  his  honored 
form  and  features.  The  immediate  occasion  of  my  men- 
tioning the  subject  to  you  is  just  this,  that  he  is  going 
to  Boston  every  day  this  winter,  and  if  you  will  just  take 
him  by  the  arm  some  fine  day  and  lead  him  into  Whipple's 
Photograph  Establishment  in  Washington  Street,  you 
can  get  for  us  what  we  want,  and  will  win  for  yourself 
the  renewed  gratitude  of  a  family  who  already  owe  their 

all  to  you.  v  i     ¥ 

J  Yours  very  truly, 

Joseph  H.  Choate." 


CHAPTER   III 

MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

lincoln — fort  sumter — war — new  york  astir — massachusetts 
troops — his  engagement — marriage — a  wedding  journey  to 
niagara  falls — starting  modestly  in  married  life — house- 
keeping in  2 1  st  street — the  draft  riots — the  gibbonses — 
summer  separations — family  correspondence — mr.  evarts  as 
attorney-general — domestic  chores — after-dinner  speeches 
— "all  detmold" 

"Dear  Mother,  *  *  *    "New  York,  7  January  186.. 

"I  have  returned  this  morning  from  a  brief  visit  to 
Mr.  John  Jay  at  Bedford,  about  50  miles  away.  You 
may  have  heard  of  him  as  a  somewhat  noted  abolitionist 
and  of  his  grandfather  [first  Chief  Justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States]  who  bore  the  same 
name  in  the  days  of  the  Revolution.  He  lives  upon  his 
grandfather's  estate  at  Bedford,  has  a  very  delightful 
family  and  is  a  glorious  host.  *  *  *       T  HP" 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  11  February  1861. 
"I  think  there  is  a  general  feeling  here  that  war  must 
come,  but  I  am  not  prepared  to  believe  anything  so  bad 
yet.  *  *  *" 

kTo  the  Same 
"New  York,  19  Feby.  1861. 
"We  are  all  wide  awake  today  to  get  sight  of  'Old  Abe9 
who  will  arrive  in  town  this  afternoon.     I  hope  he  will 

217 


218  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

be  content  to  make  very  short  speeches  and  kiss  very- 
few  girls  while  here,  for  he  seems  to  have  damaged  him- 
self very  much  in  the  general  estimation  thus  far  by  that 
sort  of  proceeding.  After  his  operations  at  North  East, 
I  think  he  is  justified  in  the  remark  he  has  made  so  often 
that  probably  no  president  since  Washington  has  been 
called  on  to  do  the  things  which  he  is  now  doing,  or  found 
himself  exactly  in  his  situation. 

"Mr.  Evarts  has  already  become  reconciled  to  his 
unexpected  defeat,  and  confesses  that  he  is  far  better 
off,  as  certainly  all  the  rest  of  us  are  today  than  if  he  had 
been  elected  Senator.    J.  H.  C." 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  25  February,  1861. 
"We  have  seen  'Old  Abe'  in  his  progress  towards  Wash- 
ington. He  looks  if  anything  uglier  than  ever,  having  a 
coarse  and  stubbed  beard  over  his  whole  face.  But  'hand- 
some is,  you  know,  that  handsome  does,'  and  if  he  realizes 
half  the  hopes  which  we  entertain  for  him,  we  shall  forget 

J.  H.  C" 


how  bad  looking  he  is.  *  *  * 


To  the  Same 

"New  York,  4  March  1861. 

"I  think  we  must  all  breathe  more  freely  this  morn- 
ing to  think  that  at  last  the  dreadful  curse  of  Buchanan's 
administration  has  been  removed  from  us.  It  is  very 
much  like  getting  rid  of  an  almost  hopeless  chronic  dis- 
ease. *  *  * 

"We  are  in  the  midst  of  the  diphtheria  which  is  cer- 
tainly no  less  fearful.  Mrs.  Evarts  has  within  a  month 
lost  by  it  four  of  her  immediate  relations — sister,  brother- 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       219 

in-law,  and  two  nieces;  another  sister  was  so  sick  of  it 
that  her  life  was  for  a  while  despaired  of,  and  now  her 
own  children  are  having  it  in  course  but  in  a  less  ma- 
lignant form.  *  *  * 

"Will  you  send  me  by  mail  my  new  triennial  catalogue 
which  I  left  at  home  last  summer?  I  have  got  nothing 
but  an  old  one  and  often  have  occasion  to  refer  to  it. 

J.  H.  C." 

To  the  end  of  his  life  Mr.  Choate  kept  the  latest 
catalogue  of  Harvard  graduates  within  reach. 

<(rK         ..,  "New  York,  8  April  1861. 

Dear  Mother,  r 

"New  York  is  all  astir  just  now  in  a  military  way  but 

what  is  going  to  happen  nobody  can  guess.     Ships  of 

war,  well  freighted  with  soldiers  and  ammunition  are 

being  fitted  out  with  great  expedition  and  leaving  the 

harbor,  but  their  destination  is  kept  a  profound  secret. 

I  think  this  vigorous  preparation  tends  to  relieve  people's 

minds  very  much  and  nobody  here  would  be  very  much 

distressed  to  hear  of  a  good  sharp  skirmish  Southward. 

Mr.  Hopper  is  in  great  glee  and  rejoices  in  these  rumors 

of  war  as  much  as  if  he  had  not  been  born  a  Quaker. 

J.  H.  C." 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  15  April  1861. 
"The  news  of  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter  has  been 
confirmed  this  morning  and  filled  us  all  with  the  utmost 
indignation.  Nobody  believed  the  story  yesterday,  it 
looked  so  much  like  a  made-up  story,  and  seemed  wholly 
impossible.  I  don't  think  that  the  President  will  find 
any  difficulty  in  raising  the  75,000  volunteers  called  for, 


220  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

so  far  as  I  can  judge  by  the  spirit  manifested  by  every- 
body here  that  is  capable  of  bearing  arms,  it  will  be  much 
harder  to  keep  men  out  of  the  army  than  to  induce  them 
to  join.  *  *  *  j_  R  c  „ 


To  the  Same 

"New  York,  22  Apl.  1861. 

"The  war  is  all  that  we  think  or  talk  of  now.  A  great 
many  of  our  young  men  have  already  gone  South  in  the 
four  regiments  that  have  been  mustered,  and  every  one 
holds  himself  ready.  We  that  never  shouldered  a  musket 
but  always  made  light  of  playing  soldier  are  now  at  once 
thrown  into  the  shade.  However,  we  can  learn  at  any 
rate,  and  this  week  I  am  going  to  begin  drilling  so  as 
to  know  at  least  how  to  handle  a  musket  in  case  of  neces- 
sity, or  an  opportunity  to  do  any  good  with  it. 

"Massachusetts'  praises  are  on  every  tongue,  and 
the  reception  given  to  her  regiments  as  they  marched 
through  New  York  was  a  proud  one.  I  am  glad  to  see 
Salem  doing  her  part  so  well,  and  hope  she  will  go  on 
doing. 

"The  greatest  anxiety  is  felt  here  for  the  safety  of 
Washington  and  the  capitol,  but  in  a  day  or  two  more 
it  will  either  be  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels  or  safely  ours. 

"One  of  our  clerks  has  got  a  commission  as  First 
Lieutenant  of  Zouaves  and  we  are  fitting  him  out  with 
sword,  uniform  &  equipments.  Another  young  man 
who  has  been  a  student  with  us  for  a  year  or  two  has 
gone  as  a  Lieutenant  of  Infantry,  so  that  we  are  not  with- 
out our  representatives  at  least  in  the  field.  I  wish  you 
would  send  me  one  of  the  Boston  papers  daily  while  this 
first  excitement  continues,  for  nothing  touches  our  pride 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       221 

as  Massachusetts  men  so  nearly  as  every  word  that  comes 

from  the  Old  Bay  State. 

With  much  love  to  all,        ^  T    tt    r> » 

Yours  ever,       J.  H.  C 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  6  May  1861. 
"We  have  quieted  down  a  little  from  the  red  hot  ex- 
citement of  the  first  two  weeks  of  the  war,  but  the  uni- 
versal determination  of  everybody  to  settle  the  great 
question  now  forever  is  all  the  more  apparent.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  13  May  1861. 
"The  weeks  fly  by  with  such  wonderful  rapidity  in 
these  exciting  times  that  it  really  seems  but  yesterday 
since  I  wrote  you.  The  flag  seems  now  to  be  in  a  fair 
way  of  being  supported  and  redeemed  and  if  we  can  only 
win  a  decided  victory  in  the  first  battle  I  shall  feel  sure 
of  the  end.  *  *  *  T    H    T " 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  27  May  1861. 
"We  are  having  great  military  movements  in  New 
York  all  the  time  now,  and  as  Sunday  is  a  day  of  leisure 
to  everybody  it  seems  to  be  selected  for  the  greatest 
parades.  Yesterday  the  funeral  of  Col.  Ellsworth  took 
place  and  it  was  very  imposing.  His  death  has  stirred 
up  the  feelings  of  the  firemen  and  the  other  'roughs' 
among  us  to  a  very  excited  state  and  has  given  a  great 
impetus  to  enlistments  here  among  the  classes  which 
are  likely  to  make  the  best  soldiers. 


222  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"Dr.  Bellows  returned  yesterday  from  Washington 
where  he  has  spent  ten  days  in  endeavoring  to  get  a  new 
sanitary  board  established  by  Government  to  look  after 
the  welfare  of  the  troops.  He  devoted  the  morning  to 
an  interesting  account  of  what  he  had  seen  at  the  capi- 

X0L  J.  H.  C." 


And  now  following  these  vivid  splashes  of  war  news, 
comes  a  highly  important  piece  of  news  of  another  char- 
acter: 

„_  .,  "New  York,  5  July  1861. 

"Dear  Mother,  °       J 

"Prepare  to  be  taken  by  surprise.  I  was  not  after 
all  so  outrageously  busy  yesterday  but  that  on  being 
released  from  court  at  four  o'clock  I  went  to  Dobbs' 
Ferry,  and  taking  advantage  of  the  4th,  as  a  day  for 
making  great  declarations,  declared  there  my  passion 
for  a  young  woman  with  whom  I  have  long  been  in  love. 
Of  course  I  am  not  just  now  in  a  state  of  mind  to  give 
you  a  plain  statement  of  the  case  or  a  just  description 
of  my  charmer.  Her  name  is  Carrie  D.  Sterling.  She 
was  born  in  Connecticut,  brought  up  in  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
and  has  spent  the  last  two  winters  in  New  York.  She 
is  23  or  24  years  old,  has  a  comely  person,  and  a  culti- 
vated mind,  and  is  gifted  with  many  qualities  which  will 
I  know  make  her  a  very  precious  companion  for  life. 
She  has  seen  something  of  society  but  is  free  from  its 
conventionalities.  She  is  destitute  of  riches  present 
or  prospective  and  will  not  therefore  interfere  with  my 
professional  advancement  which  is  now  very  promising. 

"I  have  no  fears  but  that  she  will  commend  herself 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       223 

to  you  all,  and  that  you  will  be  willing  to  take  her  upon 
her  own  merits  as  I  have  done. 

With  as  much  love  as  ever,  I  am  yours, 

J.  H.  C." 

"If  you  would  do  a  good  motherly  act  now  and  wel- 
come her  as  a  daughter,  by  a  dainty  little  epistle  to  her 
enclosed  in  one  to  me,  it  will  delight  us  both  very  much. 
She  will  of  course  be  still  more  delighted  should  any  of 
you  think  this  event  important  enough  to  bring  you 
to  New  York  to  see  her,  but  we  are  both  too  modest  to 
expect  anything  so  good  as  that  with  entire  confidence. 

"I  have  been  obliged  to  set  down  a  case  for  trial  on 
the  15th,  and  that  may  prevent  my  coming  home  next 
week  but  I  hope  not." 

«r^         ™  "JuIY>  1861. 

"Dear  Mother,  j 

"As  there  is  now  no  probability  of  my  coming  home 
next  week  I  will  try  to  answer  some  few  of  the  thousand 
questions  which  must  be  uppermost  in  your  mind,  al- 
though the  attempt  will  be  very  unsatisfactory.  You 
can  have  no  idea  of  her  without  seeing  her. 

"You  ask  about  her  family,  but  that  is  something 
that  I  know  very  little  about.  I  should  be  just  as  well 
satisfied  with  her,  whether  her  family  were  princes  or 
paupers  and  have  really  made  but  very  imperfect  in- 
quiries about  them.  I  only  know  that  her  father  died 
two  years  ago  in  Cleveland,  at  the  age  of  63 — his  name 
I  have  forgotten,  but  will  find  out.  Her  grandfather 
was  Elisha  Sterling  a  lawyer  of  some  note  in  Western 
Connecticut,  his  name  appears  in  the  Yale  College  Cata- 
logue I  think  in  1761.  Her  father  was  brought  up  as  a 
rich  man's  son  without  a  profession  or  occupation  and 


224  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

lived  and  died  as  a  gentleman  of  leisure,  which  was  of 
course  an  unsatisfactory  life.  Her  mother's  home  is  at 
Cleveland  but  she  is  now  staying  with  her  mother  in 
Illinois.  She  has  no  sisters  but  five  brothers,  three  of 
whom  are  settled  in  Cleveland  and  two  in  the  State  of 
Tennessee — both  of  them  I  believe  are  rebels.  So  much 
for  the  family;  if  they  have  any  of  her  qualities  they 
must  be  very  estimable  people. 

"And  now  for  my  adorable  herself.  It  is  impossible 
to  depict  her  upon  paper,  and  even  the  photograph  re- 
fuses to  do  her  justice,  for  though  she  is  very  fair  haired 
and  very  light  complexioned  the  machine  persists  always 
in  turning  her  out  as  a  mulatto.  She  is  the  pet  of  all 
her  friends  among  whom  she  not  uncommonly  goes  by 
the  name  of  'the  Saint/  and  certainly  she  looks  like  one. 
She  is  tall  and  rather  slightly  built,  has  dark  brown  eyes, 
and  there  is  an  expression  in  her  face  which  will  if  I  am 
not  mistaken  remind  you  of  our  lost  Lizzie.  She  is  the 
most  graceful  of  women.  Her  self-possession  and  com- 
mon sense  are  remarkable,  and  she  has  a  force  of  char- 
acter and  strength  of  will  which  few  of  her  sex  can  boast. 
Her  chief  passion  before  she  knew  me  was  art,  and  for 
three  years  almost  she  has  devoted  herself  to  it,  with 
the  view  of  making  it  her  profession.  Her  teachers  who 
have  been  among  the  most  noted  of  our  painters  agree 
that  her  talents  in  that  direction  amounted  to  genius, 
and  it  is  certain  that  but  for  this  catastrophe,  her  career 
as  an  artist  would  not  have  been  obscure.  This  is  what 
has  kept  her  in  New  York  for  the  last  two  winters,  which 
she  has  passed  in  the  family  of  my  friend  Mr.  Dunning, 
where  she  is  regarded  in  all  respects  as  a  daughter  and 
sister.  She  is  a  regular  attendant  at  Dr.  Bellows'  church, 
though  perhaps  in  her  principles  and  feelings  more  nearly 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       225 

a  Christian  Socialist  than  a  Unitarian.  At  any  rate  Mr. 
Hopper,  who  is  now  the  acting  head  of  our  church  in- 
sists upon  her  being  received  to  full  communion.  Mrs. 
Hopper,  who  doesn't  know  her,  said  a  good  thing  about 
her,  that  she  must  certainly  be  a  woman  of  superior  in- 
telligence since  no  ordinary  woman  would  be  able  to 
tell  whether  I  was  in  earnest  or  not. 

"In  short  'the  Saint'  while  she  differs  in  all  respects 
from  all  other  women,  is  a  woman  that  you  will  all  love 
for  the  same  reason  that  I  do,  because  you  can't  help 
it.  Pure  and  modest,  sincere  and  unaffected,  bright 
and  entertaining — even  tempered  and  amiable  as  I  am, 
and  every  bit  as  proud,  the  only  unfavorable  criticism 
that  I  have  to  make  about  her  is  that  she  has  taken  a 
very  exaggerated  view  of  my  merits,  from  which  Time 
of  course  will  abate  much. 

"I  find  that  this  occasion  calls  out  my  friends  in  un- 
expected number  and  earnestness,  and  you  must  know 
far  better  than  I  how  completely  it  must  change  the 
whole  tenor  of  my  life.  I  agree  with  you  fully  as  to  the 
worthlessness  of  a  bachelor's  life.  Mine  has  been  as 
unsatisfactory  to  me  as  it  has  been  'deplorable'  to  you. 

"Mr.  Evarts  who  has  I  believe  for  some  time  been 
impatient  for  me  to  take  such  a  step,  expresses  satis- 
faction now.  I  thank  you  with  all  my  heart,  my  dear 
mother,  for  your  kind  note  to  my  'Saint9  and  hope  that 
Carrie  will  before  long  be  well  enough  for  you  to  come 
on  and  see  her.  j    tt    p  » 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  18  July  1861. 
'The  Saint'  is  in  town  staying  with  her  Aunt  in  23d 
St.     Mr.  and  Mrs,  Carlile  were  so  kind  as  to  call  on  her 


226  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

last  evening  and  Mr.  Hopper  this  morning  took  us  to 
Mr.  Page's  studio  to  see  the  wonderful  portraits  of  him- 
self and  Mrs.  H.  and  Willy  which  Mr.  Page  has  painted. 
We  have  also  spent  an  evening  at  the  Gibbonses  and  I 
was  delighted  but  not  surprised  to  see  how  well  they 
took  to  Miss  Sterling.  There  is  so  much  simple  truth 
and  unaffected  dignity  about  her  that  their  Quaker-cut 
fancies  could  not  but  be  pleased.  Mr.  Hopper  also  mani- 
fests a  most  unbounded  enthusiasm  on  the  subject,  and 
seems  to  think  it  is  the  best  thing,  as  I  am  sure  it  is  the 
only  thing,  that  I  have  ever  done. 

With  much  love, 

J.  H.  G" 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  20  August  1861. 

"As  to  our  plans  for  the  future,  in  these  strange  times 
it  is  not  well  perhaps  to  form  them  far  ahead,  but  we 
mean  to  find  a  house  which  will  be  adapted  to  our  modest 
wants  by  the  1st  of  May,  and  in  the  meantime  to  live 
with  Carrie's  Aunt  Mrs.  Carr  in  23rd  St.  who  is  very 
urgent  to  have  us  do  so,  and  has  promised  to  instruct 
Carrie  in  the  art  of  housekeeping  whereof  she  is  herself 
perfect  mistress.  It  is  I  think  an  excellent  arrangement 
for  a  few  months.  Mrs.  C's  family  consists  of  herself 
&  husband.  Mrs.  Sterling  will  very  likely  be  there  a 
part  of  the  winter,  and  so  we  shall  be  saved  from  the 
horrors  of  boarding  on  the  one  hand  and  the  first  perils 
of  housekeeping  on  the  other. 

"Please  write  immediately  as  to  our  coming. 

In  haste,  t    tr    ^  »> 

J.  ri.  v^. 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       227 

To  Miss  Sterling  at  Salem 

"August  27,  '6 1. 

Tuesday  morning. 

"  *  *  *  I  got  here  safely  at  half  past  four  o'clock 
Monday  morning,  having  passed  in  the  cars  the  ten  longest 
hours  of  my  life.  We  came  on  very  well  to  New  Haven, 
but  after  that  our  swift  express  train  was  metamorphosed 
into  a  milk  train,  to  supply  the  city  market  for  the  com- 
ing week,  so  we  had  to  stop,  as  it  seemed  to  me  at  every 
cow,  to  take  her  contribution  to  the  common  stream, 
and  once  or  twice  I  detected  them  stopping  at — not  a 
cow  nor  a  barn-yard — but  at  a  chain  pump,  and  milking 
that  instead.  We  could  not  luxuriate  in  a  supper  at  the 
Massasoit  House,  when  we  reached  Springfield,  because 
it  was  Sunday  night,  'the  Sabbath,9  which  could  not  be 
broken  within  its  sacred  walls,  so  we  did  the  next  best 
thing — but  next  by  a  very  long  remove — and  turned 
into  the  refreshment  saloon,  and  there  drank  coffee  and 
eat  huckleberry  pie,  to  the  great  discomfort  of  our  rail- 
road dreams  which  followed. 

"Your  visit  to  Salem  is  a  great  delight  to  me.  I  am 
sure  that  the  affections  of  all  those  who  love  me  will  cling 
very  closely  around  you.  Give  me  a  full  account  of  all 
the  people  who  come  to  see  you,  for  I  shall  take  every 
visit  as  a  compliment  to  myself,  and  I  can  tell  you  who 
of  them  to  prize  most.  If  the  way  should  open  for  you 
to  go  and  see  old  Mrs.  Fairfield,  Mrs.  Wadsworth's 
mother,  I  hope  you  will  do  so;  she  is  very  old  and  cheer- 
less now,  and  has  a  right  to  a  good  deal  of  attention. 
She  has  always  felt  a  very  lively  interest  in  me,  and  you 
will  be  well  repaid  for  any  little  trouble  it  may  cost  you, 


228  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

by  the  warmth  of  the  reception  she  will  give  you.  With 
Mrs.  Silver,  a  bright  name  for  a  bright  woman,  you  need 
not  take  so  much  pains.  (Carrie  will  tell  you  about  her). 
She  will  of  course  invite  you  to  come  up  and  take  tea, 
but  don't  you  do  it,  that  is  if  you  don't  want  to  injure 
your  constitution  and  my  peace  of  mind  forever  by  eat- 


ing too  much.  *  *  * 


J.  H.  C." 

To  the  Same 


"New  York,5Septr.  1861. 

"  I  was  in  hopes  that  you  wouldn't  see  that  I  had  been 
dining  and  speech-making  again  to  a  Massachusetts 
Regiment,  for  the  fact  was  that  I  was  dragged  into  it, 
and  forced  upon  my  feet  and  my  jaws  opened  when  I 
had  nothing  under  the  sun  to  say.  Today  another  Regi- 
ment the  20th,  comes  through  New  York  and  Governor 
Andrew  dines  with  them  at  the  Barracks.  The  Post 
of  last  evening  &  the  morning  papers  today  stated  that 
several  'distinguished  citizens  of  this  State'  would  dine 
there  with  him  among  whom  were  Commodore  String- 
ham,  Governor  Morgan,  *  *  *  Joseph  Choate,  &  others, 
so  you  see  that  you  are  going  to  marry  a  great  man — 
a  distinguished  citizen  of  a  great  City  &  State,  and  it 
must  afford  you  unqualified  delight.  Fortunately  I  am 
out  of  the  scrape,  having  done  my  duty  by  paying  my 
respects  to  the  Governor  and  seen  them  seated  at  din- 
ner &  thereupon  quietly  vamoosed.  I  had  as  Iieve  speal 
as  not  when  I  have  something  to  say,  but  to  talk  for  th< 
sake  of  talking,  of  filling  a  gap,  is  poor  business.  *  *  * 

"The  visit  of  old  Humphrey  Devereux  &  Mrs.  Orn< 
are  truly  astonishing,  and  most  wonderful  of  all  thai 
they  didn't  come  together.     I  have  hardly  seen  Mrs. 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       229 

Orne  since  I  stretched  up  on  a  cricket  in  the  pew  in  church 
to  examine  &  study  the  trimmings  on  her  bonnet  as  she 
sat  in  front  of  me  some  twenty  years  ago.  I  think  it's 
a  distinguished  honor  she  has  paid  you.         j    „    /->  » 


To  the  Same 

"My  landlady  is  in  great  distress  because  I  told  her 
yesterday  that  she  must  take  the  first  opportunity  that 
offers  to  let  my  room,  and  that  I  should  not  at  any  rate 
remain  under  her  roof  many  weeks  longer.  She's  a  hard 
woman,  exercising  an  influence  over  the  inmates  of  her 
house  not  unlike  that  which  Mrs.  MacStinger  used  to 
hold  over  Capt.  Cuttle.  I  have  always  managed  to  keep 
on  the  right  side  of  her  by  paying  her  bills  on  the  spot, 
and  lending  her  money  whenever  she  wanted  an  advance, 
and  then  too  among  the  clerical  and  religious  community 
which  has  always  filled  the  house,  my  habit  has  been 
to  introduce  a  considerable  degree  of  sacrilegious  mirth, 
refusing  always  to  be  serious  under  any  circumstances. 
The  consequence  is  that  in  view  of  my  departure,  when 
thrown  back  upon  their  own  solemncholy,  the  whole  house- 
hold are  already  dejected.     Miss actually  went  so 

far  as  to  say  that  I  should  be  a  great  loss  to  her.  I  hope 
so,  for  whatever  may  be  her  loss,  will  be  all  your  gain. 
When  we  were  first  engaged,  (it  seems  really  as  if  we 
had  been  always  engaged)  I  used  to  look  upon  our  mar- 
riage as  something  strange  and  exciting.  But  every  day 
more  and  more  I  am  getting  to  think  of  it  and  long  for 
it  as  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world,  and  as  an  event 

that  ought  to  take  place  at  the  earliest  possible  day. 
*  *  * 

Jo." 


23o  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

To  the  Same 

"Sept.  10,  '6 1. 

"Guess  who  has  been  sounding  your  praises  now  of 
all  men  in  the  world.  You  have  made  a  new  conquest 
and  a  brilliant  one.  I  met  in  the  Park  on  Saturday  a 
Mrs.  Williams,  an  old  acquaintance  of  mine,  who  warmly 
congratulated  me  on  my  engagement,  and  as  I  was  sure 
she  could  never  have  seen  you  or  known  anything  about 
you,  I  took  the  liberty  of  asking  her  what  grounds  she 
had  for  so  special  a  demonstration.  She  said  that  Horace 
Greeley  passed  Sunday  week  at  her  house,  and  kept  talking 
about  a  Miss  Sterling  whom  he  had  met  at  Mrs.  Gib- 
bons's,  and  who  was  engaged  to  Mr.  Choate,  in  the  highest 
terms  of  praise.  She  wouldn't  tell  me  all  he  said,  because 
she  thought  it  would  aggravate  my  already  excessive 
vanity,  but  what  she  did  reveal  of  his  criticism  showed 
that  Horace  with  all  his  oddity  keeps  his  eyes  and  ears 
open,  and  knows  very  well  the  difference  between  a  hawk 
and  a  hernshaw.  He  said  exactly  what  I  said,  and  if 
you  could  see  my  letter  to  mother  about  you,  you  would 
observe  the  identity  of  our  ideas — 'that  Miss  Sterling 
is  a  woman  of  wonderful  uprightness  &  truth  of  char- 
acter, and  that  Mr.  Choate  could  lean  on  her  and  trust 
in  her  under  all  circumstances,  and  be  sure  that  his  re- 
liance will  not  be  in  vain.'  And  so  I  shall,  my  saint,  shall 
I  not?  And  how  much  stronger  and  larger  and  truer  I 
shall  be  for  it.  Hurrah  then  for  Horace  Greeley  &  Hurrah 
for  the  Saint.  *  *  * 

"But  I  have  to  write  another  letter  before  going  to 
the  cars  which  leave  at  4 — So  farewell — Forget  me  not, 
&  be  sure  always  that  my  hopes  &  prayers,  my  ambition 
&  prospects,  yes,  my  life  itself,  now  centre  upon  you 
alone.  J.  H.  C." 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       231 
To  the  Same 

"New  York,  11  Sept.  1861. 
"By  the  way,  my  dear,  why  wouldn't  it  be  a  good  plan 
for  you  to  seal  your  letters.  The  last  one  came  unsealed, 
and  there  were  no  signs  of  the  gum  upon  it  having  been 
ever  moistened.  Now  I  should  be  very  jealous,  you  may 
be  sure,  of  having  any  other  eyes  than  mine  peruse  its 
glowing  lines  of  love,  and  nothing  would  more  test  and 
tempt  the  virtue  of  any  ordinary  clerk  than  bringing 
from  the  Post  office  a  love-letter  to  me  wide  open.  How- 
ever, this  morning's  mail  was  brought  by  Mr.  Tracy 
himself,  where  virtue  is  incorruptible,  as  bright  as  the 
stars  and  as  deep  as  the  heavens.  If  he  knew  my  deepest 
secrets,  he  never  would  let  anyone,  even  myself,  know  it. 
Still,  another  time  it  would  be  well  enough  to  be  sure 
and  seal,  lest  some  prying  eyes  might  revel  in  its  sweet 
secrets  which  are  not  their  own.  Who  knows  but  that 
the  Postmaster  read  it  aloud  to  his  clerks?  I  was  quite 
harassed  myself  the  other  day  by  something  similar, 
having  written  to  you,  and  also  a  business  letter  to  Dr. 
Tuckerman  of  Salem,  within  the  same  hour  on  Saturday. 
I  was  haunted  afterwards  by  an  apprehension  that  I 
had  put  the  right  letter  into  the  wrong  envelope,  and 
that  a  somewhat  impassioned  epistle  (if  I  recollect  it) 
to  you,  had  gone  to  his  address,  while  some  very  unin- 
telligible legal  statements  would  greet  your  eyes  on  open- 
ing your  Monday  letter,  and  I  am  quite  relieved  to  think 
no  such  accident  happened." 

tlr^         , ,  "New  York,  7  October  1861. 

Dear  Mother, 

"  I  enclose  notes  for  you  all  from  Miss  Sterling  &  hope 

that  none  of  you  will  disappoint  us. 


232  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"I  was  mortified  to  find  that  Dr.  Bellows  will  have 
to  be  absent  on  the  16th  attending  the  Sanitary  Com- 
mission in  Washington.  The  American  Unitarian  Ass. 
also  meets  on  that  day  in  Boston,  so  that  we  may  be 
hard  up  for  a  minister,  but  if  they  all  fail  us  we  can  fall 
back  on  that  upright  civil  functionary  Fernando  Wood, 
our  worthy  Mayor,  and  it  will  be  a  life-long  distinction 
to  have  been  married  by  him,  *  *  *  T    H    C " 

Mr.  Choate  and  Miss  Sterling  were  married  in  All 
Souls'  Church,  New  York,  on  October  16,  1861,  by  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Osgood. 

ki^         m-  "Cleveland,  Ohio,  23  Oct.  1861. 

"Dear  Mother,  ' 

"We  reached  here  last  Saturday  evening  and  have 
just  completed  our  visit  to  Carrie's  friends,  among  whom 
we  have  found  a  most  hearty  welcome  and  generous 
entertainment.  The  weather  here  on  Lake  Erie  is  de- 
plorable, but  we  had  two  pleasant  days  to  begin  with 
and  are  content  now  to  submit  to  this  storm  of  hail,  snow 
and  rain  which  is  raging  furiously.  We  passed  two  nights 
and  nearly  two  days  at  Niagara  Falls,  at  the  Cataract 
House  on  the  American  side,  the  only  one  now  open. 
There  was  nobody  there  except  some  fifteen  or  twenty 
bridal  couples,  quite  as  fresh  as  we  were  in  their  new 
relation.  Between  ourselves  we  made  a  great  deal  of 
game  of  them,  and  criticised  them  as  freely  as  though 
we  had  not  had  our  tails  cut  off,  which  they  perhaps  did 
or  did  not  discover.  I  found  that  homeopathy  flourished 
at  Niagara  in  a  most  extraordinary  way.  I  had  got  a 
splinter  in  my  foot  which  I  couldn't  get  out  and  when  it 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR      233 

began  to  get  sore  I  went  in  search  of  a  doctor.  As  in 
duty  bound  I  first  exhausted  the  allopaths  who  were 
all  away  from  their  offices,  and  finally  as  a  last  resort 
•called  on  'Dr.  Rice,  Homeopathist '  for  the  surgery  I 
needed.  He  proved  a  skillful  hand  and  performed  a  most 
successful  operation.  I  asked  for  his  bill  which  I  sup- 
posed would  of  course  be  considerable,  and  was  really 
shocked  when  he  said  that  twenty-five  cents  would  be 
about  right.  I  paid  it  very  promptly  and  Carrie  was 
lost  in  pity  for  the  poor  doctor  whose  office  was  a  pic- 
ture of  poverty  and  whose  income  came  in  in  25  ct.  pieces 
— but  we  heard  afterwards  that  he  had  more  business 
by  far  than  all  the  other  doctors  in  the  place  together, 
and  made  heaps  of  money  out  of  strangers.  AH  which 
we  commend  to  Dr.  Gersdorff,  who  must  be  glad  to  know 
that  his  special  department  of  science  flourishes  so  well 
within  the  roar  of  Niagara.  As  we  came  along  in  the 
cars  we  met  with  a  good  many  strange  faces  and  figures 
who  were  unconsciously  perpetuated  in  Carrie's  sketch 
book  which  she  brought  along  with  that  malicious  pur- 
pose. 

"Carrie  never  looked  half  so  well  or  so  happy  as  she 
does  now  and  I  am  still  in  love  with  her  a  little  bit. 

"  We  leave  here  tomorrow  morning  and  expect  to  spend 
next  Sunday  in  Montreal  and  in  about  a  week  after  that 
will  reach  New  York,  when,  if  not  before,  I  will  again 

y     '  With  much  love  to  all,  T    H    P  " 

"Carrie  sends  a  deal  of  love  all  round — and  remembers 
with  delight  the  kindness  of  all  of  you  on  the  great  oc- 
casion." 


234  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

From  Mrs.  Choate  to  Mrs.  George  Choate 

"New  York,  Nov.  10,  1861. 

i,m  -  _ ,  Sunday  Eve. 

My  dear  Mother, 

"I  wish  you  could  just  look  in  upon  us  to-night,  into 
this  cheerful  pretty  room,  which  is  already  as  homelike 
as  possible.  You  would  see  a  bright  fire  in  the  grate, 
plenty  of  pictures  &  books,  gay  curtains,  soft  chairs,  a 
long  mirror  &  a  somewhat  luxurious  couch  upon  which 
at  this  moment  is  stretched  rather  a  precious  burden. 
He  is  pretending  to  be  asleep.  At  any  rate  he  is  a  pic- 
ture of  comfort  worth  your  while  to  look  upon,  so  I  won't 
disturb  him,  but  beg  some  good  fairy,  if  there  be  such, 
to  transport  immediately  to  this  apartment  all  of  your 
household  that  you  too  may  behold  the  picture.     How 

I  should  enjoy  that  &  how  the  hours  would  slip  away. 
*  *  * 

"I  need  hardly  tell  you  our  journey  was  delightful  & 
that  in  Cleveland,  where  we  were  much  taken  to  task 
for  our  short  visit,  Joe  was  the  subject  of  the  gaze  &  re- 
mark of  the  united  populace — united  in  one  particular 
only,  which  my  modesty  forbids  me  to  mention.  AH 
through  Canada  the  secessionists  &  their  sympathizers 
somewhat  vexed  us  with  their  stupid  talk,  but  when 
they  frankly  confessed  theirs  was  a  ' cotton  sympathy' 
only,  we  were  soothed.  Joe  will  add  something  to-morrow, 
so  with  much  love  to  you  all  &  a  wish  to  hear  from  you 
very  soon,  believe  me, 

Your  aff.  daughter, 

Carrie  S.  Choate." 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       235 

A_  ...       "New  York,  17  Nov.  1861. 

"Dear  Mother,  *  *  * 

"You  must  by  this  time  have  been  more  than  half 
persuaded  from  what  you  have  seen  yourself  that  Carrie 
is  a  trump  and  a  treasure,  but  when  you  come  to  know, 
as  you  will  know  how  watchful  and  devoted  she  is  to 
me,  how  self  denying  and  forgetting  and  withal  how 
entertaining  and  sympathetic,  you  will  take  her  to  your 
heart  as  a  daughter  indeed  and  appreciate  and  share  in 
my  pride  and  love  for  her.  I  don't  get  over  it  a  bit,  but 
desperate  as  my  case  seemed  to  be  before  I  was  married, 
I  find  myself  getting  still  more  and  deeper  in  love  with 
her  every  day.  In  my  long  experience  in  New  York  you 
know,  keeping  my  eyes  pretty  wide  open  too,  I  have 
seen  and  understood  almost  every  description  of  women, 
and  am  well  content  to  match  her  against  the  best  of 
them. 

"Carrie's  first  reception  day  passed  off  very  quietly; 
she  had  quite  a  number  but  by  no  means  a  rush  of  visi- 
tors, more  of  whom  are  expected  next  Thursday.  It 
seems  that  New  York  is  not  quite  yet  fitted  out  with 
winter  bonnets  and  not  until  those  are  fully  trimmed 
and  mounted  will  the  tide  of  callers  be  at  the  flood.  *  *  * 

"Mr.  Evarts  has  been  confined  to  the  house  for  a  week 
past  by  illness,  a  cold  combined  with  feverish  symptoms, 
but  he  is  now  well  and  out  again.  It  was  a  new  experi- 
ence for  him,  but  we  all  regard  it  as  a  very  timely  warn- 
ing. He  habitually  overworks  himself.  I  do  not  mean 
in  business — that  alone  he  could  stand  well  enough,  but 
he  burdens  himself  so  much  with  public  and  political 
affairs,  and  submits  to  so  many  unnecessary  cares  and 
bores,  that  he  has  no  repose  or  peace  whatever,  and  no 
man  can  stand  that  state  of  things  for  years  together. 


236  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"The  capture  of  Mason  &  Slidell  and  the  glorious  on- 
slaught upon  South  Carolina  have  elated  the  whole  world 
about  us  and  one  feels  as  if  he  had  come  into  a  new  coun- 
try and  among  a  new  people  in  the  last  few  days,  every- 
body is  so  elated  &  happy.  *  *  *  T    H    C " 

From  Mrs.  Choate  to  Mrs.  George  Choate 

"Sunday,  Jan.  18,  1862. 
******** 

"Mrs.  Gibbons  returned  Wednesday  eve.  leaving 
Sallie  in  Philadelphia  at  her  uncle's.  She  arrived  last 
evening  however,  greatly  improved  in  appearance,  more 
cheerful  &  decidedly  stouter.  She  is  full  of  amusing 
incidents  of  her  stay  in  Virginia  &  Washington;  takes 
off  Mrs.  Lincoln  with  great  effect;  talks  of  Old  Abe's 
boots,  which  from  their  condition  might  be  styled  'patent 
foot  ventilators.'  *  *  *  Carrie  $   Choate„ 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  16  Feby.  1862. 
"We  have  no  news  but  the  good  tidings  from  the  West 
which  will  of  course  reach  you  before  this  letter  does — 
that  Fort  Donelson  has  fallen,  and  Floyd,  Pillow,  Buckner 
and  10,000  lesser  rebels  have  laid  down  their  arms  and 
surrendered  to  General  Grant.  The  news  reached  here 
since  breakfast  this  morning,  although  the  despatches 
received  last  night  made  the  hope  of  it  very  certain.  This 
catastrophe  must  be  a  death  blow  to  rebellion  and  coupled 
with  Burnside's  advance  in  the  rear  of  the  Manassas 
army  will  I  hope  bring  the  war  to  a  speedy  close. 

J.  H.  C." 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       237 

From  Mrs.  Choate  to  Mrs.  George  Choate 

"March  3d  1862. 


"Joe  has  been  very  busy  the  last  week  in  Capt.  Mil- 
let's case.  Of  course  his  whole  heart  is  bent  upon  clearing 
him  from  so  serious  a  charge  if  possible.  There  is  great 
interest  felt  in  the  case  &  I  heard  that  his  defence  on 
Friday  was  admirable  &  excited  much  comment.  The 
court  room  was  crowded  &  old  judges  &  lawyers  con- 
gratulated Joe.  I  was  vexed  beyond  everything  that  I 
could  not  hear  it.  Another  time  Mr.  Carter  says  he  will 
be  my  friend  and  assist  me  in  any  plan  I  may  propose 
for  hearing  my  husband's  speeches.  Oh,  my  dear  Mother 
I  am  so  proud  of  him — every  day  more  &  more  happy 
in  such  a  glorious,  noble,  devoted  husband.  Even  you  of 
whom  he  is  so  fond  (as  he  is  of  all  his  family)  can  hardly 
know  how  lovely  he  is  to  his  wife,  how  thoughtful  &  con- 
siderate. I  wish  I  had  every  gift  &  virtue  for  his  sake, 
that  I  might  bless  every  moment  of  his  life  with  some 

'  y#  Carrie  S.  Choate." 


L-^         .,  "2  Hanover  St.,  3  March  1862. 

Dear  Mother,  d 

"  I  have  been  for  a  week  past  in  quite  a  Salem  atmos- 
phere, Capt.  Millet  was  indicted  for  manslaughter  and 
his  trial  in  the  U.  S.  Circuit  Court  commenced  on  Thurs- 
day. Endicott  Peabody,  Jno.  B.  Silsbee,  Henry  Daland 
and  three  others  from  Salem  are  in  attendance  as  wit- 
nesses. The  evidence  was  closed  tonight  and  the  case 
will  go  to  the  jury  tomorrow.    It  is  rather  a  difficult  case 


238 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


to  manage,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  shooting  was 
an  accident,  and  we  have  strong  hopes  that  Capt.  M. 
will  be  acquitted. 


*  *  * 


J.  H.  G" 


To  the  Same 


"New  York  21  April  '62. 
"There  is  quite  a  dearth  of  news  here  just  now.  Every- 
body is  in  suspense  waiting  to  hear  of  the  terrible  battles 
that  seem  inevitable  at  Yorktown  and  at  the  West.  Very 
considerable  preparations  are  being  made  here  for  the 
relief  of  the  sick  &  wounded  that  must  pass  through  here 
to  New  England  as  the  war  and  the  summer  advance. 
The  doctors  have  organized  a  surgical  depot  in  the  Park 
and  the  New  Englanders  here  have  fitted  up  a  building 
on  Broadway  for  the  relief  of  disabled  soldiers  homeward 
bound.  Several  of  our  distinguished  surgeons  also  have 
gone  to  Yorktown  within  a  day  or  two  on  the  summons 
of  the  Government.  *  *  *  T    H    P  " 

To  His  Wife 

"61  East  23rd  St.  New  York. 
*  *  *  I  get  credit  from  everybody  for  my  long  vaca- 
tion— all  the  pale  people  who  have  not  yet  got  out  of 
town  saluting  me  with  'How  well  you  look!'  'Why, 
my  stars,  I  never  saw  you  looking  better';  and  indeed 
it  is  a  great  thing  to  get  the  advantage  of  people  in  that 
way.  I  find  it  very  pleasant  and  comfortable  here.  Mr. 
Butler  goes  to  Stockbridge  tomorrow,  and  after  that  I 
shall  be  alone  for  some  time.  I  get  up  early,  take  a  walk 
before  breakfast,  then  after  getting  down  town  and  be- 
fore going  to  the  office  take  a  swim  in  the  floating  bath 
at  the  Battery,  a  very  refreshing  thing  and  the  best  safe- 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       239 

guard  in  the  world  against  the  heat,  then  a  quiet  day  in 
the  office  and  about  half  past  five  we  come  up  town  and 
get  dinner.  Thus  far  Mr.  Butler  and  I  have  dined  to- 
gether at  Maison  Doree  and  Delmonico's  in  14th  St.,  but 
after  he  leaves  I  intend  to  dine  at  home.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 

«Tv/r  wr        *  *  *       "New  York,  4  August,  1862. 

My  dear  Wife,  *  *  *  " 

"Jo.  Jackson  of  Newark,  an  old  friend  of  mine,  who 

is  on  General  Franklin's  Staff,  where  he  has  been  through 

eight  hard  fought  battles — all  those  on  the  Peninsula — 

came  to  see  me  today.     He  does  not  speak  in  terms  of 

much  encouragement.    He  says  that  the  newspaper  stories 

of  the  unquestioning  devotion  of  all  the  soldiers  in  the 

army  to  McCIellan  are  not  true,  and  is  the  first  man  I 

have  seen  who  was  in  a  position  that  made  his  opinion 

worth  anything,  that  did  not  praise  McCIellan,  as  the 

man  for  the  place  and  the  time.  *  *  * 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  5  August  1862. 
"*  *  *  There  is  a  new  engagement  out  yesterday. 
Think  of  my  agility  in  gathering  gossip — you  see  it's 
because  I  am  catering  for  you.  Who  now  do  you  sup- 
pose it  is?  Wouldn't  you  give  all  your  old  shoes  to  know? 
Well,  if  you'll  be  a  good  girl,  and  not  use  your  eyes  when 
they  feel  weak,  and  not  drink  strong  coffee  late  at  night 
to  keep  you  awake  or  tossing  about  till  morning,  I'll 
tell  you.  Miss  Susie  Shaw  is  engaged  to  Robt.  B.  Min- 
turn,  Jr.  and  I  shd.  think  it  a  capital  arrangement.  On 
both  sides  there  is  a  great  deal  of  beauty  and  excellence 
and  they  will  make  a  sensible  and  attractive  couple. 


24o  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

I  got  that  from  Julia  Gibbons,  with  whom  and  her  father 
I  spent  an  hour  last  night.  Mr.  G.  thinks  still  that  Fre- 
mont is  the  only  General  who  has  shown  any  'real 
strategic  ability'  since  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

"We  have  the  news  of  the  great  draft  ordered  by  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  it  creates  some  excitement  and  not  a  little 
squirming,  but  I  don't  see  that  anything  can  be  gained 
by  shirking  the  responsibility  which  rests  on  us  all  alike, 
and  haven't  yet  thought  much  about  it.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 

To  the  Same 

New  York,  6  August  1862. 


a  *  *  * 


John  Hopper  is  as  excitable  and  spasmodic 
as  ever.  He  spends  four  days  of  the  week  in  New  York, 
and  three  at  Milton.  He  has  lately  introduced  among 
his  friends  a  new  brand  of  cigar  which  in  honor  of  his 
Pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Messiah  he  calls  the  'Osgood 
Sweeting.9  How  would  Sammy  be  scandalized  if  he  should 
hear  of  this !  He  also  follows  the  lead  of  Garrison  &  Wen- 
dell Phillips  in  abusing  Old  Abe  for  inefficiency.  He  thinks 
that  the  coat  tail  of  Andrew  Jackson  if  we  could  get  it 
would  make  a  better  President  than  Lincoln.  But  John 
is  at  work  for  the  cause  with  all  his  might  and  I  have 
no  doubt  that  his  contributions  to  the  war,  this  year 
only,  direct  and  indirect  will  amount  to  $2500.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  7  August  1862. 
"I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  your  constant  letters 
delight  me,  nor  with  what  yearning  the  hope  of  finding 
them  hurries  me  to  the  office  in  the  morning.    How  mar- 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       241 

vellous  it  is  that  I  who  never  cared  for  anybody  but  my- 
self before,  should  now  depend  so  utterly  on  your  every 
word  and  thought.  *  *  * 

"The  disgusting  painters  are  still  at  work  in  our  back 
offices — my  room  however  is  finished  and  looks  very  well. 
The  ceiling,  to  begin  with,  so  black  before,  is  now  white. 
The  walls  are  a  handsome,  but  by  no  means  invisible 
green,  and  the  wood  work  is  handsomely  grained  in  oak. 
We  have  had  the  old  floor  cloth  varnished  and  postponed 
getting  a  new  carpet  till  cold  weather.  Mr.  Southmayd, 
of  course,  has  insisted  on  having  his  room  fixed  differently 
and  made  it  as  mediaeval  as  his  pantaloons.  We  are 
getting  in  a  lot  of  new  law  books,  and  putting  on  at  least 
the  air  of  prosperity. 

"I  have  had  two  professional  triumphs  this  week  which 

you  will  rejoice  in.     The  Union  Club  case  which  went 

against  us  the  first  time  and  which  I  spent  so  much  time 

and  pains  upon  in  the  spring,  has  been  decided  in  our 

favor,  and  the  people  whom  I  have  been  fighting  so  hard 

for  the  last  two  years  in  the  Insurance  Case,  which  we 

have  been  always  expecting  to  try  and  never  trying,  have 

retained  me  in  a  new  controversy  in  which  they  have 

embarked,  on  the  strength  of  the  very  hard  knocks  which 

I  have  heretofore  given  them.  *  *  *  ^  „ 

J.  ri.  k^,. 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  8  August,  1862. 
'  *  *  *  During  the  last  few  days  I  have  been  growing 
much  more  hopeful  for  the  country  than  I  have  been  for 
a  long  time.  The  Government  seems  at  last  to  have 
taken  hold  of  the  war  in  the  right  way  and  gives  us  some 
assurance  that  there  is  to  be  no  more  child's  play.    From 


242  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

all  accounts  the  enemy  have  now  gathered  to  the  field 
at  Richmond  their  whole  fighting  force,  so  that  if  we 
can  destroy  that  army,  we  put  an  effectual  stop  to  any 
further  general  combined  resistance.  That  so  much 
can  be  accomplished  I  feel  very  certain,  though  it  may 
involve  the  loss  or  destruction  of  quite  as  many  men 
on  our  side  in  doing  it.  As  to  the  drafting,  it  is  not  worth 
while  for  us  to  borrow  any  trouble  from  the  future  on 
that  score  or  to  cry  before  we  are  hurt.  The  Govern- 
ment is  certainly  entitled  to  our  services  and  to  our  lives 
if  need  be,  and  I  know  that  both  you  and  I  would  bear 
it  with  brave  hearts,  if  duty  should  require  me  to  go  in 
person.  But  I  have  no  idea  that  that  will  happen  unless 
our  late  disasters  are  repeated  a  great  many  times.  I 
hope  you  are  getting  them  at  Salem  out  of  the  slough 
of  despond  in  which  they  persist  in  keeping  their  heads. 
Pretty  soon  we  shall  have  a  victory  and  then  all  things 
will  shine  again, — till  then,  my  dear,  let  us  keep  stout 
hearts  and  refuse  to  see  what  so  many  are  grumbling 
about." 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  9  August  1862. 

"  *  *  *  There  has  been  the  most  absurd  excitement 
here  among  certain  cowardly  people  who  claim  an  ex- 
emption from  the  draft,  and  they  have  made  most  foolish 
endeavors  to  escape  their  liability,  but  gradually  the 
general  mind  has  got  used  to  the  idea,  and  most  all  who 
ought  to  be  ready  to  go  if  necessary  are  prepared  to  stand 
their  chances.  *  *  * 

"Mr.  Evarts  has  concluded  not  to  go  to  Washington 
at  present,  so  his  intervention  in  behalf  of  the  Doctor's 
brother  will  be  postponed.  *  *  * 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       243 

"Trust  me  ever,  darling,  for  I  live  only  for  you,  and 
take  no  pride  in  anything  but  being  called  your  devoted 
husband— J.  H.  C" 


To  the  Same 

"Monday  morning,  Aug.  10,  1862. 

"  *  *  *     At  last  we  are  living  under  a  kind  of  martial 

law  in  New  York,  having  at  any  rate  a  Provost  Marshal 

who  seems  by  the  general  orders  of  Mr.  Stanton  to  be 

invested  with  full  power  to  capture  anybody  and  clap 

him  into  any  prison  that  may  suit  his  fancy.     That  of 

course  is  not  expected  to  be  done  but  it  might  be  done 

in  strict  compliance  with  the  letter  of  his  instructions. 
*  *  * 

J.  H.  C" 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  18  August  1862. 

"  *  *  *  I  have  begun  to  read  Macaulay,  having  bor- 
rowed a  beautiful  English  edition  from  Mr.  Evarts's 
library,  and  in  the  dullness  of  the  next  two  weeks — 'the 
blank  of  your  absence*  as  you  so  happily  term  it — I  ex- 
pect to  find  in  it  great  comfort  and  consolation.  I  find 
it  already  a  rich  treat  and  only  wonder  that  in  the  Ma- 
caulay fever  which  raged  so  universally  when  it  first 
came  out  I  was  not  impelled  to  read  it.  But  the  fact  is, 
it  requires  great  concentration  of  purpose  to  take  up  a 
work  of  five  large  volumes  unless  one  has  positively  noth- 
ing else  to  do,  which  has  not  been  the  case  with  me  now 
for  many  years. 

"Tomorrow  the  new  Reservoir  in  the  Central  Park 
is  to  be  opened  for  use — one  hundred  and  seven  acres  of 
pure  Croton  to  be  let  in  all  at  once.    There  is  something 


244  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

to  tell  which  may  well  excite  the  wonder  of  the  provincial 
people  in  and  about '  Cranford. '  We  want  to  see  the  great 
cavity  before  the  sluices  are  opened,  so  we  are  to  have 
an  early  dinner  today  at  half  past  five  and  spend  the 
early  evening  in  a  visit  there.  I  understand  that  a  road 
is  already  being  built  all  around  it  by  the  commissioners 
of  the  Park — high  enough  too  to  overlook  the  surface 
of  the  water.  AH  for  our  benefit,  my  dear,  for  you  can 
well  conceive  how  much  it  will  add  to  the  pleasure  of 
our  future  rides  and  drives  in  that  quarter,  which  will  I 
hope  be  perpetual,  to  have  the  presence  and  the  refresh- 
ing sight  and  coolness  of  so  vast  a  lake. 

"Further  accounts  from  Mrs.  Gibbons  report  her  as 
being  still  at  Point  Lookout,  where  she  has  been  promoted 
to  a  command  of  really  vast  proportions,  being  at  the 
head  of  more  than  forty  nurses.  Among  the  soldiers  she 
goes  by  the  name  sometimes  of  'Major-General9  and  some- 
times of  'Mammy,9  and  Sally  rejoices  indiscriminately 
in  the  various  titles  of  'Sis9 — 'Nuss9 — 'Cook9 — 'My  dear9 
— 'Lady9 — and  *  Woman9 — the  last  being  the  only  one  at 
which  she  seems  to  take  offence.  They  describe  the  con- 
dition of  the  sick  and  wounded  who  arrive  there  from 
the  Peninsula  as  shocking  in  the  extreme.  They  are 
half  starving,  full  of  filth  and  vermin,  almost  literally 
naked,  and  otherwise  desperately  off.  Government 
stores  of  food  are  scarce  and  no  clothing.  She  furnished 
two  hundred  of  them  with  drawers  and  shirts,  but  many 
are  left  yet  unprovided  for  and  it  is  no  uncommon  thing 
still  to  see  even  officers  roaming  about  with  no  covering 
but  a  sheet  hung  about  their  necks;  truly  a  shocking  state 
of  society.  Mr.  Gibbons  is  going  to  ship  some  new  sup 
plies  to  her  this  week,  gathered  from  all  who  will  con 
tribute.     I  cannot  find  it  in  my  heart  not  to  send  some 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       245 

thing,  but  hardly  know  what.  I  think  perhaps  a  box 
of  lemons  would  carry  as  much  comfort  as  anything  and 
shall  look  out  for  them  to-day  *  *  *." 

To  the  Same 

"Salem,  Mass.  19  August,  1862. 
«  *  *  *  General  Stone  has  been  unconditionally  re- 
leased and  passed  through  New  York  yesterday,  a  free 
man,  on  the  way  to  rejoin  the  army.  His  imprisonment 
will,  I  am  convinced,  be  the  darkest  blot — an  ineffaceable 
one — on  the  history  of  this  administration.  He  was 
the  victim  of  lies,  perjury  and  abolitionists.  The  craftily 
laid  plot  for  his  ruin  has  at  last  been  foiled,  but  I  hope 
that  vengeance  will  come  upon  the  authors  and  abettors 
in  the  day  of  reckoning.  I  believe  him  to  be  as  noble 
and  patriotic  a  spirit  as  there  is  on  our  side  in  this  war 
— and  when  the  first  opportunity  offers  I  shall  look  for 
some  achievements  on  his  part,  which  will  be  worthy  of 
a  great  soldier.  I  hope  you  will  let  Aunt  Mary  know 
that  our  prophecies  have  thus  far  come  true — and  that 
if  she  will  only  wait  long  enough  she  will  be  a  thorough 
convert  to  our  side  on  this  question.  I  should  think 
that  his  release  in  this  way  would  shake  the  confidence 
of  our  friends  in  Sumner  and  Wilson,  whose  wretched 
and  wicked  contrivances  were  probably  the  cause  of  the 
mischief  which  has  been  done.* 

*  "The  famous  case  of  General  C.  P.  Stone,  under  whom,  on  October  22,  1861, 
was  fought  the  disastrous  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff,  has  been  a  permanent  basis  for 
attacking  Stanton.  Immediately  after  that  engagement  men  in  the  command 
wrote  to  John  A.  Andrew,  governor  of  Massachusetts,  that  Stone  was  in  the  habit 
of  returning  escaped  slaves  to  their  masters,  forwarding  Confederate  mail,  and 
associating  with  secessionists.  Andrew  replied  that  Stone's  orders  in  respect  to 
such  matters  should  not  be  obeyed;  Stone  wrote  to  the  adjutant-general  pro- 
testing against  State  interference;  the  adjutant-general  transmitted  the  protest 
to  Andrew;  Andrew  forwarded  it  to  Senator  Charles  Sumner;  Sumner  denounced 


246  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"We  went  last  night  to  see  the  great  reservoir  before 
the  letting  in  of  the  water.  It  is  said  to  be  the  greatest 
piece  of  masonry  in  the  country — today  it  will  be  opened 
with  appropriate  ceremony." 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  21  Augt.  1862. 
«  *  *  *  j  nave  another  doleful  letter  this  morning 
from  your  mother.  She  seems  not  content  with  the 
gloomy  views  which  surround  her  at  Cleveland,  and 
anxious  to  borrow  some  new  anxiety  about  us  in  New 
York.  In  fact  she  writes  expressly  to  ask  what  I  shall 
do  if  I  am  drafted.  I  shall  try  and  write  her  in  a  reviving 
strain  tonight  or  in  a  day  or  two.    She  says  that  Alf  has 

Stone  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate;  Stone  wrote  a  letter  to  Sumner  intended  to 
bring  on  a  duel,  and  Sumner  turned  the  letter  over  to  Cameron,  then  secretary 
of  war. 

"Out  of  the  discussion  thus  precipitated  grew  the  famous  Committee  on  the 
Conduct  of  the  War,  headed  by  the  resolute  and  fearless  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  who 
at  once  began  to  take  testimony  concerning  the  case.  A  prima  facie  basis  for 
court-martial  proceedings  was  established,  and  Stanton,  who  had  just  succeeded 
Cameron  as  secretary  of  war,  ordered  General  McClellan  to  cause  Stone's  arrest 
and  imprisonment  on  the  record  and  report  presented. 

"In  addition  to  written  testimony  and  evidence,  the  advice  of  the  Committee 
on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  and  the  demands  of  Governor  Andrew,  which  he  could 
not  disregard,  Stanton  possessed  sources  of  information  not  open  to  others.  A 
sister  of  two  of  the  mulatto  slaves  returned  by  Stone  was  a  servant  in  the  home 
of  Adjutant-General  Townsend  and  disclosed  that  Mrs.  Stone  was  acquainted 
with  or  related  to  the  owners  of  the  slaves  and  with  other  secessionists  in  the 
vicinity,  which  fact  influenced  her  husband  to  establish  a  friendly  intercourse 
with  people  not  loyal  to  the  Government. 

"Stone  was  confined  at  Fort  Lafayette,  near  New  York,  during  a  period  of 
one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  days,  without  trial.  He  was  liberated  on  August 
16,  by  the  operation  of  the  act  of  July  17,  1862.  A  year  or  more  later  he  resigned 
his  commission  and  entered  the  service  of  the  Khedive  of  Egypt  to  become  Stone 
Pasha. 

"As  to  holding  Stone  in  long  imprisonment  without  trial,  Stanton  himself  de- 
clared: 'To  hold  one  commander  in  prison  untried  is  less  harmful  in  times  of 
great  national  distress  than  to  withdraw  several  good  officers  from  active  battle- 
fields to  give  him  a  trial.  Individuals  are  nothing;  we  are  contributing  thousands 
of  them  to  save  the  Union,  and  General  Stone  in  Fort  Lafayette  is  doing  his  share 
in  that  direction.'  " — From  F.  A.  Flower's  "Life  of  Stanton." 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       247 

about  made  up  his  mind  to  enlist,  and  of  course  she  pic- 
tures him  returning  at  no  distant  day  from  the  battle- 
field a  torn  &  mangled  victim  of  war,  with  no  father's 
house  to  receive  and  shelter  him.  I  hope,  my  dear,  that 
we  shall  never  get  into  such  a  valley  of  shadows  as  her 
life  seems  to  have  led  her  into.  Now,  I  think  that  Alfred 
certainly  ought  to  enlist  and  to  go  as  a  private  if  he  can- 
not get  a  commission.  Were  I  in  his  position  at  his  age 
I  should  not  hesitate,  as  I  think  really  that  this  war  is 
the  only  business  open  to  a  young  man  so  placed;  at 
any  rate  the  only  thing  worthy  of  his  attention  and  his 
exertions.  When  I  write  to  your  mother  shall  I  not  tell 
her  so,  and  shall  I  not  offer  to  do  anything  for  him  in 
the  way  of  money  that  may  be  required  for  his  outfit? 
It  would  give  me  great  delight  to  do  so,  if  you  think  it 
the  right  thing.  We  are  going  to  deny  ourselves  in  some 
degree,  you  know,  this  winter  for  the  war,  and  why  not 
aid  him  if  he  is  disposed  to  go,  and  requires  it?  *  *  * 

J.  H.  G" 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  22  August  1862. 
*  *  *  There  is  now  a  strong  probability  that  there 
will  be  no  draft  in  New  York — in  the  City  I  mean — and 
still  less  of  any  such  thing  in  the  rural  districts  of  the 
State,  where  hitherto  recruiting  has  proceeded  more 
briskly  than  here.  Mr.  Carr  tells  me  that  only  about  9500 
men  are  now  wanted  to  complete  both  quotas  due  from 
New  York  City  under  the  two  calls  of  the  President,  and 
to  supply  this  men  are  enlisting  here  at  the  rate  of  more 
than  1000  per  week.  It  will  take  five  or  six  weeks  to 
perfect  the  arrangements  for  a  draft,  and  by  that  time 
it  is  probable  that  the  quotas  will  be  so  nearly  filled  that 


248  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

[; 
J. 


the  work  will  be  finished  more  satisfactorily  without  a 
draft  than  with  it.  *  *  * 


To  the  Same 

"New  York,  23  August,  1862. 

"  *  *  *  j)0  y0U  see  tfiat  Shepherd  Hurlbert  has  turned 
up  again — a  lion  this  time — having  just  escaped  from  a 
year's  captivity  in  Richmond  and  other  parts  of  Secessia. 
He  is  certainly  a  man  of  the  most  varied  fortunes.  How 
he  could  have  lived  so  long  away  from  the  dissipations 
and  indulgences  of  metropolitan  life  I  do  not  understand. 

"We  had  quite  a  biblical  investigation  at  our  house 
the  other  evening.  Your  mother  wrote  that  she  dis- 
trusted our  Generals,  and  feared  that  we  had  more  Achans 
than  Gideons  in  our  ranks.  A  depth  of  scriptural  learn- 
ing was  here  involved  that  was  quite  beyond  me,  who 
never  had  heard  of  Achan.  I  appealed  to  Mrs.  Carr, 
but  she  was  quite  as  ignorant,  and  of  course  her  husband 
couldn't  be  expected  to  know,  so  we  got  out  the  big  family 
Bible  and  Cruden's  concordance  and  went  through  the 
Book  of  Joshua  until  we  had  the  fate  of  Achan  all  by 
heart.  I  now  feel  prepared  to  write  an  answer  to  your 
good  mother's  letter,  as  I  was  not  before,  for  it  would 
hardly  do  to  confess  to  her  that  I  knew  not  Achan,  or 
any  other  of  those  disreputable  characters  who  proved 
such  stumbling  blocks  in  the  way  of  the  'chosen  people.' ' 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  26  August,  1862. 
"  *  *  *    Mr.  Carr  has  been  of  late  very  busy,  the 
work  of  paying  the  Government  bounties  to  recruits 
having  fallen  upon  him.     You  can  imagine  how  active 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       249 

it  has  made  him,  for  he  has  within  the  month  paid  $93,000 
in  sums  of  $25,  $4  and  $2  to  upwards  of  3000  soldiers. 
He  describes  the  class  of  men  who  are  enlisting  as  of  the 
best  possible  material  for  an  army — muscular,  intelli- 
gent and  spirited." 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  27  Augt.  1862. 

*****  There  is  a  strange  report  in  town  today  to 
the  effect  that  Genl.  McDowell  has  been  shot — assas- 
sinated by  Genl.  Sigel — an  unexplained  mystery  which, 
I  hope,  will  end  like  most  of  the  sensatious  items  in  the 
newspapers  in  nothing. 

"Last  night  I  strolled  up  to  the  Gibbonses'  after  dinner. 
Lucy  is  now  at  home,  and  Julia  at  Milton  with  her  Aunt 
Rosa.  There  was  a  young  lady  from  Connecticut  there 
by  the  name  of  Corlies  who  had  two  brothers  in  the  5th 
Connecticut  Regt.  (Will  CoggswelPs)  one  of  whom  fell 
at  the  Battle  of  Cedar  Mountain  with  ten  bullets  in  his 
body,  and  the  other  is  in  Bedloe's  Island  Hospital,  dying 
of  consumption  brought  on  by  exposure  in  the  ranks. 
Julia  and  Emily  Gardner  had  found  him  in  their  visits 
to  the  hospital,  in  sad  plight,  but  his  greatest  distress 
was  that  his  sister  was  in  Connecticut,  and  unable  to 
come  to  him,  because  neither  she  nor  he  had  the  means 
for  the  journey.  So  what  should  those  glorious  girls  do 
but  each  put  five  of  their  hard  earned  dollars  together 
and  send  it  to  the  sister  with  an  invitation  to  come  down 
and  stay  at  the  Gibbonses*  and  visit  her  brother  as  much 
as  the  regulations  would  admit.  Considering  that  neither 
of  those  girls  is  very  rich,  I  think  that  this  one  act  de- 
serves to  be  told  to  their  everlasting  honor.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C" 


250  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  28  Augt.  1862. 

"Yesterday  was  a  blue  day,  darling,  because  it  brought 
not  a  word  from  you.  I  feared  all  sorts  of  things  about 
you — you  were  sick — you  had  caught  cold — or  perhaps 
you  had  gone  off  on  some  expedition  which  would  prevent 
my  hearing  from  you  for  a  day  or  two.  I  knew  you 
wouldn't  forget  to  write,  and  as  no  letter  came  in  the 
morning  I  said,  oh  dear,  but  it  will  come  this  afternoon. 
So  in  the  afternoon,  I  went  in  person  to  the  post  office — 
there  was  nothing  in  the  box,  but  four  steamers  had  ar- 
rived and  the  mails  were  not  all  distributed,  and  I  stood 
watching  No.  621,  and  the  clerk  putting  in  the  letters 
with  all  the  boxes  around,  expecting  every  minute  that 
your  dear  little  messenger  would  come  pop  into  its  place. 
The  hand  went  very  near  it  many  times,  but  though  it 
carried  letters  to  all  the  neighbors,  No.  620  &  622  &  many 
other  boxes  above  &  below — still  what  I  wanted  did  not 
come  and  the  plaguey  box  remained  empty.  This  morn- 
ing, however,  on  my  coming  I  found  them  both,  and  I 
can  assure  you  that  I  feasted  my  hungry  eyes  and  greedy 
heart  upon  them.  *  *  * 

"We  had  a  pleasant  dinner  at  Mr.  Harry  Sedgwick's 
last  night,  notwithstanding  the  heat.  You  know,  how- 
ever, my  aversion  to  these  'gentlemen's'  dinner  parties. 
I  never  can  learn  to  enjoy  them.  *  *  *  ~  „ 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  29  August  1862. 
"  *  *  *     There  is  the  worst  news  from  the  army  in  town 
this  afternoon,  and  as  it  is  not  in  the  papers  I  will  tell 
you  about  it.     It  seems  that  a  large  force  of  the  enemy 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       251 

have  got  in  the  rear  of  General  Pope's  army,  and  are 
between  him  and  Alexandria,  occupying  some  ten  miles 
in  extent  of  the  only  road  by  which  he  gets  his  supplies. 
He  has  made  a  requisition  for  200,000  rations  but  had 
received  only  100,000  when  this  manoeuvre  was  accom- 
plished by  the  enemy.  The  worst  of  it  is  said  to  be  that 
Pope  is  almost  unsupported,  having  with  him  only  his 
own  army  and  Genl.  Fitz-John  Porter's  division  which 
numbers  about  2000  men.  McCIellan  with  50,000  is 
at  or  near  Acquia  Creek.  We  must  therefore  be  ready 
to  hear  at  once  of  a  fresh  disaster  to  our  arms,  if  this 
news  be  true.  I  have  it  from  Mr.  Marble,  the  Editor  of 
the  World,  who  says  there  is  no  doubt  about  it  &  showed 
me  a  despatch  from  Mr.  Blair  at  Washington  in  cypher 
which  he  translated  to  me,  and  which  authenticated 
the  report.  I  begin  to  lose  confidence  in  everybody.  AH 
our  generals  together — within  1 00  miles  of  each  other,  & 
with  the  finest  army  in  the  world,  or  that  ever  was  in  the 
world,  at  their  disposal,  and  yet  we  have  to  submit  to 
these  shameful  disasters.  *  *  *  T    H   T " 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  Sunday  morning. 
Aug.  29. 

"I  am  determined  that  my  darling  shall  have  a  letter 
from  me  tomorrow  and  if  possible  to  hear  from  her  to- 
day, and  as  I  believe  the  post  office  will  be  open  for  an 
hour  at  noon  I  shall  run  down  in  the  cars  after  writing 
this  and  see  what  there  is  there  for  me  in  Box  62 1 .  *  *  * 

"When  I  think,  my  saint,  of  the  misery  and  desolation 
that  these  dreadful  times  are  bringing  and  are  yet  to 
bring  upon  almost  every  family  about  us,  and  how  per- 
fect our  happiness  is  through  it  all,  increasing  daily  as 


2  $2 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


our  love  for  each  other  waxes  more  and  more,  my  heai 
overflows  with  gratitude  and  yet  I  know  not  but  we  oughl 
almost  to  reproach  ourselves  for  such  unalloyed  jo^ 
I  think  at  any  rate  that  in  the  future  we  must  make  ai 
effort  to  do  something  more  for  the  cause  than  we  have 
yet  thought  to  do,  and  in  some  way  or  other  sacrifice 
a  little  of  our  abundance  to  the  great  cause  to  whicl 
we  are  as  sincerely  devoted  as  the  warmest  patriots  aboul 
us.  Perhaps,  when  you  come  back  to  New  York  yoi 
will  be  able  to  find  some  poor  family  who  have  givei 
their  father  or  only  support  to  the  war.  There  must  b( 
hundreds  of  such  about  us,  and  would  you  not  rejoice 
to  take  them  in  charge,  as  we  very  well  can,  and  so  dc 
as  much  to  promote  our  own  happiness  as  theirs.  W< 
must  struggle  against  selfishness  in  our  great  love,  ant 
don't  you  think  it  does  tend  slightly  that  way?  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C" 


„^         w  "New  York,  3  Mch.  1863. 

"Dear  Mother,  ?  ° 

"I  have  your  welcome  letter  of  yesterday.  We  ha< 
heard  of  Hattie  Hodges'  engagement  from  Mrs.  Silsbee 
who  went  with  us  to  Niblo's  Saturday  evening.  I  b< 
Iieve  she  returns  today,  the  period  for  which  they  en- 
gaged their  rooms  having  expired,  and  no  others  can  be 
got  for  love  or  money.  New  York  was  never  so  crowdet 
as  now,  I  think. 

"We  have  a  house — the  same  one  we  were  talking 
of  when  at  Salem,  No.  93  W.  21st  Street  betweei 
6th  &  7th  Avenues.  I  have  leased  it  for  five  years  a1 
$700,  so  you  see  we  are  bent  upon  a  permanent  settle- 
ment at  last.  It  is  neither  fine  nor  fashionable,  but  will 
be  very  comfortable  and  suits  our  means  and  prosped 
very  well.    I  mean  if  practicable  to  fit  up  the  back  rooi 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       253 

on  the  2d.  floor  for  Carrie's  Studio,  and  have  the  middle 
room  opening  into  it  for  a  library,  and  we  shall,  no  doubt, 
find  ourselves  very  snug  and  happy  there.  It  is  a  small 
and  modest  affair.  *  *  * 

"  Carrie  is  well  and  very  busy.  She  wants  to  finish  one 
or  two  more  pictures  for  our  house,  and  as  we  have  laid 
in  all  the  stock  of  cotton  &  linen,  table  cloths,  napkins, 
counterpanes,  blankets,  towels,  pillows,  bolsters,  etc., 
etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  that  we  can  afford,  she  has  a  great  deal 
on  hand. 

"I  must  run  to  Court  or  some  pettifogger  will  take 
my  default.  Your  ,oving  ^  j    R  c  „ 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  7  April  1863. 
"  *  *  *  Twenty-three  days  more  and  we  shall  have 
a  home,  and  though  we  shall  not  have  much  to  put  in 
it,  not  enough  to  make  it  a  Paradise  at  the  start,  we  never- 
theless look  forward  to  it  with  joy  unspeakable.  Anyway, 
we  have  a  bed,  two  tables,  four  chairs  and  a  sofa,  a  cream 
pitcher,  an  asparagus  fork,  six  salt  cellars  and  a  rug,  and 
there  might  be  a  much  meaner  stock  to  begin  upon  than 
that,  you  know.  Then  we  expect  to  get  some  plated 
spoons,  some  old  style  steel  forks,  a  brush  and  dustpan, 
and  before  Midsummer  I  dare  say  we  shall  begin  to  feel 
at  home  at  No.  93  West  21st  Street.  *  *  *     j    u    p » 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  15  April,  1863. 

*  *  *     It  is  almost  too  kind  of  you  to  remember  us 

at  this  time,  and  for  your  kind  offer  of  the  spoons  &  forks 

we  thank  you  most  heartily.     Carrie  has,  I  believe,   18 

tea  spoons  and  12  dessert  spoons  &  6  tablespoons  but 


254  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

not  a  fork  of  any  description  and  but  for  your  kind  offer 
we  should  have  contented  ourselves  at  present  with  plated 
ones.  And  you  may  be  sure,  therefore,  that  your  con- 
tribution will  be  very  welcome.  I  think  our  stock  of 
spoons  is  sufficient  except,  perhaps,  in  table  spoons  and 
a  ladle.  We  went  again  this  morning  and  surveyed  our 
house,  and  like  it  better  and  better.  It  is  just  the  thing 
we  want.  We  shall  not  in  these  times  be  in  a  hurry  to 
furnish  the  whole  house — only  the  dining  room,  kitchen 
and  our  chamber,  and  carpeting  the  parlors.  That  is 
all  we  shall  provide  for  before  we  go  in — the  rest  we  shall 
take  our  time  about.  We  have  already  disposed  of  the 
worst  things,  cotton,  linen  and  carpets,  all  of  which  you 
may  believe  are  most  atrociously  high. 

"I  am  doubly  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  a  home 
this  summer,  for  I  don't  see  much  chance  of  any  sub- 
stantial vacation,  and  shall  therefore  need  to  be  very 
comfortable  in  town.  Mr.  Evarts  goes  to  Europe  on  im- 
portant business  on  Saturday  &  I  don't  expect  to  see  him 
before  fall.*  Mr.  Butler  has  been  very  sick  for  a  month, 
and  will  have  to  recruit  a  good  deal.  Southmayd  is  ab- 
sent for  the  next  six  weeks  in  the  great  Pennsylvania 
Coal  Case,  which  will  probably  tire  him  out  so  that  he 
will  have  to  take  refuge  in  the  country,  &  Evarts  Tracy 

*  Mr.  Sherman  Evarts,  in  his  edition  of  Mr.  Evarts's  "  Argumentsand Speeches," 
says:  "In  April,  1863,  Mr.  Evarts  was  sent  by  the  Government  on  a  private 
mission  to  England,  in  a  professional  capacity,  to  prevent  the  escape  of  any  more 
vessels  built  and  equipped  for  the  Confederate  navy,  and  also  with  a  view  of  in- 
fluencing, as  far  as  possible,  the  attitude  and  opinions  of  the  public  men  of  Eng- 
land, in  reference  to  the  Civil  War.  He  returned  to  America  in  July,  but,  again, 
on  December  30,  1863,  sailed  for  Europe  on  a  similar  errand,  which  took  him  to 
Paris  as  well  as*  London.    He  returned  in  June,  1864." 

In  "The  Education  of  Henry  Adams,"  Mr.  Adams  says:  "Secretary  Seward 
sent  William  M.  Evarts  to  London  as  law  counsel,  and  Henry -began  an  acquain- 
tance with  Mr.  Evarts  that  soon  became  intimate.  Evarts  was  as  individual  as 
Weed  was  impersonal:  like  most  men,  he  cared  little  for  the  game,  or  how  it  was 
played,  and  much  for  the  stakes,  but  he  played  it  in  a  large  and  liberal  way,  like 
Daniel  Webster,  'a  great  advocate  employed  in  politics.'  " 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       255 

is  to  be  married  and  so  hors  de  combat.  You  see  there- 
fore, that  my  chance  is  slim. 

Ever  yours, 

J.  H.  G" 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  July  14th, 

3  p-  M- 
"Carrie  and  I  had  our  trunk  packed  to  come  to  Salem 

tonight  as  I  wanted  to  be  at  Commencement.  But  sud- 
denly we  find  ourselves  in  the  midst  of  a  most  bloody 
riot,  and  we  cannot  think  of  leaving  until  it  is  over.  The 
accounts  in  the  papers  do  not  tell  the  half  of  the  brutal- 
ity of  the  human  beasts  who  for  the  moment  have  con- 
trol. Yesterday  morning  when  the  riot  commenced  in 
the  22d.  Ward,  it  was  headed  by  the  Alderman  of  that 
Ward.  There  was  not  a  military  company  in  town — 
all  having  been  sent  to  Pennsylvania.  AH  night  the  sky 
was  red  with  whole  blocks  burning — and  today  the  vio- 
lence of  the  mob  increases.  Many  have  been  shot,  but 
as  yet  the  effect  is  hardly  perceptible.  The  military 
force,  however,  is  gradually  increasing — four  of  our  Regi- 
ments have  been  summoned  from  Harrisburgh  and  per- 
haps by  midnight  they  will  arrive  to  the  rescue.  In  our 
immediate  neighborhood  in  21st  Street,  there  has  been 
no  outbreak,  but  in  addition  to  our  two  servants,  last 
night  we  had  four  helpless  negroes  under  our  roof  for 
shelter — they  were  being  murdered  in  all  parts  of  the 
city  and  no  negro  out  of  doors  was  safe. 

"AH  this  is  the  natural  fruits  of  the  doctrines  of  Sey- 
mour, Wood,  Vallandigham,*  etc. 

*  Governor  Seymour;  Fernando  Wood,  then  in  Congress;  Clement  Vallandig- 
ham, the  vociferous  Ohio  copperhead,  arrested  in  May,  1863,  tried  by  court  mar- 
tial and  presented  to  the  Confederates,  who  did  not  want  him,  so  he  went  to 
Canada. 


256  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"  I  have  no  fears  but  that  this  mob  will  soon  be  quelled 
though  only  by  slaying  them  like  sheep.  Have  no  fears 
for  us,  as  we  are  in  no  possible  danger. 

Ever  yours,       j    h    C" 

"I  will  write  again  when  there  appears  to  be  any 
change." 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  15  July,  1863. 
"I  think  things  begin  to  look  better  now.  Powder 
and  ball  are  beginning  to  tell.  But  the  last  twenty-four 
hours  have  been  horrible.  Our  friends  the  Gibbonses 
have  lost  everything  and  are  at  our  house.  At  5  yester- 
day afternoon  their  house  was  sacked.  It  was  reported 
that  they  were  Horace  Greeley's  cousins,  and  that  was 
cause  enough.  A  warning  had  been  given  them  and 
Mr.  Gibbons  called  on  the  Military  Commander  and 
the  Police,  but  both  said  they  had  no  force  to  spare.  The 
girls  were  both  at  home  and  were  able  to  remove  some 
sacred  memorials  of  Willie  &  a  few  clothes,  but  every- 
thing else,  furniture,  books,  pictures,  china,  beds,  are 
swept  as  clean  as  by  a  fire.  In  fact  the  house  was  fired 
but  put  out  by  the  neighbors,  one  of  whom,  a  Mr.  Wil- 
son, was  killed  in  remonstrating  with  the  crowd.  The 
rioters  came  headed  by  two  men  on  horse  back  who  sta- 
tioned themselves  at  the  gate  with  sabres  drawn — then 
they  broke  in  doors  &  windows  and  threw  out  everything. 
A  rabble  of  thieves  followed  and  carried  all  away.  Mr. 
Gibbons  fortunately  was  out,  and  so  saved  his  life.  Mrs. 
G.  &  Sally  are  still  at  Pt.  Lookout.  By  the  merest  acci- 
dent, I  happened  to  be  in  that  part  of  the  town  just  be- 
fore six,  on  Broadway,  and  seeing  all  eyes  turned  down 
West  29th  St.  went  down  expecting  to  see  trouble  in 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       257 

the  negro  quarters,  between  Bway  &  Lamartine  Place. 
But  there  was  nothing  there,  and  I  went  on  and  found 
the  mob  just  completing  the  work  of  destruction.  I 
went  in  among  them,  and  wrested  some  books  from  one 
thief,  but  seeing  that  nothing  could  be  done,  went  in 
search  of  the  girls  whom  I  found  at  Mr.  Brown's  next 
door  but  one.  From  there  they  had  seen  it  all.  They 
threw  themselves  into  my  arms,  almost  swooning.  I 
immediately  got  a  carriage,  and  got  them  over  a  dozen 
adjoining  roofs,  and  in  a  few  minutes  we  were  all  safely 
at  our  door.  Their  house  itself  is  not  very  much  injured, 
but  all  the  sacred  associations  of  a  home  of  25  yrs.  are 
gone. 

"The  authorities  seem  now  to  be  getting  the  upper 
hand,  but  the  riot  is  yet  to  be  suppressed.  This  morning 
before  breakfast  I  walked  over  to  the  5th  Ave.  Hotel, 
and  met  a  man  who  had  just  seen  a  negro  hung  by  the 
Irish  on  the  corner  of  32d.  St.  &  6th  Avenue. 

f  There  has  been  nothing  like  this  I  think  since  the 
French  Revolution.  The  barbarity  and  extent  of  the 
mob  you  have  no  idea  of.  But  we  shall  get  the  upper 
hand.  Carrie  and  the  girls  are  very  brave,  and  fear  no 
danger.  We  are  as  safe  as  anybody,  and  tomorrow  I 
hope  will  bring  you  word  that  peace  is  restored. 

J.  H.  C." 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  16  July,  1863. 
"Law  and  order  appear  to  be  getting  the  upper  hand 
again,  although  up  to  day-break  there  was  not  much  to 
reassure  us.  Yesterday  afternoon  the  rioters  appeared 
in  our  Ward  and  proceeded  to  hunt  out  the  negroes.  On 
7th  Avenue  within  half  a  dozen  blocks  of  us  three  negroes 


258  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

were  hung,  and  after  death  subjected  to  most  horribl 
barbarities — but  all  has  since  become  quiet  in  that  quar 
ter.     The  cruelty  which  has  for  these  three  days  bee 
perpetrated  on  the  blacks  is  without  a  parallel  in  history 
The  men  have  been  killed,  their  houses  &  property  de 
stroyed  and  women  and  children  turned  destitute  int 
the  streets  only  to  meet  there  with  new  horrors.    Severa 
of  our  city  regiments  have  now  actually  arrived  an 
retribution  awaits  the  rioters.     Yesterday  the  militar 
made  free  use  of  their  grape  and  canister  and  many  o 
the  villains  fell.     The  announcement  that  General  Di 
has  been  ordered  to  take  command  here  has  just  bee: 
made  and  gives  us  all  great  confidence,  and  the  fact  tha 
the  power  is  to  be  transferred  from  Governor  Seymou 
to  him  is  encouraging.     We  were  in  a  very  bad  way  at 
the  outset.     Mayor  Opdyke  has  no  power  and  no  pluck 
to  use  it  if  he  had.     The  military  commanders,  Wool 
Sandford  and  Brown,  are  superannuated,  and  Seymoui 
who  kept  out  of  the  way  the  first  twenty-four  hours  ap 
peared  on  the  second  day  and  hailed  the  rioters  as  h 
'friends9 — as  they  are — that  is  the  power  that  electe 
him,  and  he  knows  it  and  will  remember  them.     He  i 
even  now  in  the  hands  of  the  worst  politicians  of  the 
Irish  Democratic  school  and  they  will  not  suffer  martia 
law  to  be  declared  which  would  be  the  only  means  0 
slaughtering  the  miscreants  who  have  done  the  mischief. 
They  never  will  be  convicted  in  our  courts,  I  fear. 

"We  are  all  safe  and  well — notwithstanding  the  in 
flammable  composition  of  our  basement.  I  am  thankfu 
above  all  things  that  I  did  not  leave  town,  but  was  her 
to  give  a  refuge  to  our  good  friends  and  to  shelter  m; 
share  of  the  unfortunates  who  would  otherwise  hav 
fallen  victims  to  the  fury  of  the  rioters. 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       259 

"Lucy  &  Julia  will  probably  go  to  Milton  tomorrow 
with  their  uncle  John.  Then  we  shall  expect  Mrs.  Gib- 
bons &  Sally,  who  will  return  as  soon  as  they  hear  what 
has  happened — and  are  to  come  immediately  to  our 
house. 

"  I  trust  we  shall  never  have  to  go  through  such  scenes 

again,  and  am  quite  sure  that  for  the  present  peace  is 

restored.  t-,  T     . 

Ever  your  loving  son,  ,    „    p  „ 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  17  July  1863. 

"Everything  is  quiet  this  morning  and  the  city  has 
generally  resumed  its  ordinary  appearance.  General 
Brown  has  now  about  12,000  troops  and  police  under 
his  command  and  some  five  thousand  more  are  expected 
before  tomorrow.  General  Kilpatrick,  also,  has  arrived 
and  is  organizing  a  strong  cavalry  force.  The  disturbance 
yesterday  was  confined  to  the  East  Side  of  the  city  but 
it  ended  last  night  in  a  very  desperate  conflict  in  which 
a  large  number  of  rioters  were  killed  &  wounded  and 
some  thirty  taken  prisoners. 

"We  have  ceased  to  feel  any  apprehensions  in  our 

quarter  of  the  town.         ^ 

Ever  yours,  J    H    C " 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  18  July  1863. 

"We  are  once  more  at  peace  in  New  York,  and  as  the 

government    are    concentrating    a    large    military    force 

here,  we  are  not  likely  to  be  again  disturbed.     It  has 

been  a  bloody  week  though.      I  think  as  many  as  five 


260  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


hundred,  all  told,  must  have  been  killed.  The  negroes 
have  fled  in  all  directions  as  from  a  slaughter-house. 
The  woman  who  has  been  at  our  house  since  Monday 
with  two  children,  found  yesterday  that  the  house  she 
lived  in  had  been  sacked  and  burned,  and  all  her  little 
possessions  destroyed  or  stolen.  Walter,  our  Ellen' 
brother,  who  had  likewise  been  with  us  for  the  wee] 
found  in  the  same  way  that  his  boarding  house  had  beei 
destroyed  and  his  little  all  with  it — under  circumstance 
of  infamous  barbarity.  AH  the  boarders  had  left  tl 
house  except  the  landlord  who  was  old  and  could  on] 
go  upon  crutches  and  thought  his  lameness  would  be 
his  protection.  Trusting  too  much  to  that  he  ventured 
out  on  Wednesday,  and  had  not  gone  far,  when  the  fiends 
attacked  him,  jumped  upon  him,  pounded  him  to  death 
and  then  hung  him  to  a  tree.  What  is  to  be  done  for 
these  helpless  victims,  I  do  not  know.  We  shall  keep 
our  quota  for  the  present,  and  do  what  we  can  to  meet 
their  most  urgent  wants,  but  the  general  distress  among 
them  must  be  very  great. 

"Julia  and  Lucy  left  yesterday  for  Milton  with  John 
Hopper.  They  received  from  all  quarters  the  most  hearty 
assurances  of  sympathy.  Mr.  G.  is  still  with  us,  and 
will  remain  until  Mrs.  G.  &  Sally  arrive,  when  some  plai 
for  the  immediate  future  will  be  considered.  Pecuniarily 
his  loss  will  not  be  great.  The  Legislature  of  New  Yoi 
in  1855  passed  a  law  making  the  City  or  the  Counl 
liable  for  all  property  destroyed  or  injured  in  consequenc 
of  a  riot  or  mob,  and  I  do  not  think  that  the  authoritic 
of  the  City  or  the  County  will  be  slow  to  make  just  amenc 
for  the  losses.  At  any  rate  if  there  is  any  hesitation  ii 
the  matter  we  shall  sue  them. 

"Archbishop  Hughes  has  behaved  like  the  Devil  dui 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       261 

ing  all  this,  and  Gov.  Seymour  not  much  better.  Witness 
their  public  acts  and  proceedings.  The  only  hope  for 
the  redemption  of  this  City  is  for  Mr.  Lincoln  to  come 
to  our  aid  and  declare  martial  law.  That  alone  will  dis- 
place Seymour.  Then  by  a  summary  trial  the  ring  leaders 
of  this  riot  can  be  punished.  By  the  ordinary  courts 
nothing  effective  will  be  done.  They  are  all  in  the  hands 
'of  the  Irish. 

With  much  love  to  all,  Yours  ever,  J.  H.  C." 

To  Mrs.  Abby  Hopper  Gibbons 

"New  York,  1  September  1863. 
"My  dear  Mrs.  Gibbons: 

"A  large  number  of  your  personal  friends,  residing 
everywhere,  have  placed  in  my  hands  the  sum  of  Twenty- 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  Dollars  ($2750)  with  instruc- 
tions to  apply  the  same  to  your  benefit.  I  have  accord- 
ingly deposited  it  in  your  name  in  the  Phenix  Bank  and 
send  you  a  Bank-book  with  that  amount  to  your  credit. 

"The  barbarous  and  cruel  destruction  of  your  home 
with  all  its  dear  associations  by  the  recent  riot,  has 
aroused  the  deepest  indignation  and  sympathy  of  all 
who  in  times  past  have  shared  its  hospitality,  and  by  a 
universal  and  spontaneous  impulse  they  have  desired 
:  to  offer  you  a  substantial  expression  and  proof  of  their 
friendship.  They  wish  also  to  bear  a  testimony  to  the 
1  value  of  a  life  devoted  to  good  works,  to  the  relief  of  the 
unfortunate  and  the  rescue  of  the  fallen,  and  to  mani- 
fest the  gratitude  which  is  felt  wherever  you  are  known, 
for  that  patriotic  devotion  which  has  led  you  to  sacrifice 
everything  during  the  present  war  to  the  welfare  of  the 
sick  and  wounded  soldiers.    And  more  than  all  they  ask 


262 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


you  to  accept  this  offering  as  a  tribute  of  the  universe 
admiration  of  your  friends  for  the  fidelity  with  whicl 
you  and  your  family  have  adhered  at  all  times  to  evei 
good   and  worthy   cause,   and  which   has   in  no  smal 
measure  brought  upon  your  heads  this  last  calamity. 

"The  parties  who  thus  claim  at  your  hands  the  ful 
rights  of  friendship  have  requested  me  not  to  disclose 
their  names,  but  you  will  take  my  assurance  that  then 
are  none  among  them  from  whose  hands  you  would  hesi- 
tate to  receive  a  kindness  or  whom,  if  known,  you  woulc 
fail  to  recognize  as  the  friends  of  many  years. 

"In  their  name  I  wish  you  a  speedy  revival  of  yoi 
cheerful  home  and  a  long  and  happy  life. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Joseph  H.  Choate. 

He  writes  to  his  mother  on  April  4,  1864: 

"  *  *  *    Tonight  I  am  to  speak  at  the  'grand  opening 

of  the  'Metropolitan  Fair,'  making  on  behalf  of  the  Iadi( 

the  response  to  General  Dix  who  will  present  to  them  th< 

buildings  with  their  contents.     I  have  been  preparii 

my  speech  yesterday  under  the  special  inspiration  of 

sick  headache,  but  am  in  very  good  order  for  tonighl 
*  *  *  » 

A  week  later  he  says  to  her: 


"There  is  nothing  new  with  us  except  the  Fair  whicl 
goes  on  from  day  to  day  much  more  triumphantly  thai 
anybody  expected.  Nobody  can  tell  yet  what  the  n 
suit  will  be  for  very  heavy  expenses  have  yet  to  be  d( 
ducted,  and  immense  subscriptions  already  made  hav( 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       263 

not  been  collected.     The  'opening'  of  which  I  sent  you 

an  account  in  the  Herald  was  most  brilliant  and  my 

own  part  in  it  appears  to  have  been  generally  approved. 
*  *  *  » 


On  the  same  subject  he  says  on  the  9th  of  May: 

f  *  *  *  The  accounts  of  the  Fair  have  not  yet  been 
footed  up,  but  it  now  seems  pretty  certain  that  the  net 
proceeds  will  not  fall  much  if  any  below  a  million  and  a 
quarter.  *  *  *  " 

The  purpose  of  the  Metropolitan  Fair  was  to  raise 
money  for  the  Sanitary  Commission,  the  great  war- 
relief  organization  of  the  Civil  War.  Its  president  and 
chief  promoter  was  the  Reverend  Henry  W.  Bellows, 
of  whom  Mr.  Choate  speaks  in  "Boyhood  and  Youth" 
as  "my  first,  last,  and  only  pastor."  Of  the  Sanitary 
Fairs,  Mr.  Rhodes  says  in  his  "History":  "Beginning  in 
Chicago  in  the  autumn  of  1863,  then  extending  to  Bos- 
ton and  many  other  cities,  they  reached  their  acme  in 
the  Metropolitan  Fair  of  New  York  City  and  the  Grand 
Central  Fair  of  Philadelphia,  each  of  which  made  for 
the  Sanitary  Commission  over  a  million  dollars." 


i*w  tt r  "Salem,   19  July   1864. 

"My  dear  Wife  y        J 

"  I  had  no  sooner  got  home  than  I  received  a  telegram 

from  Mr.  Carter,  dated  today,  containing  the  shocking 

announcement  that  our  dear  friend  John  Hopper  died 

yesterday  at  Milton — no  particulars.     I  am  now  trying 

to  find  out  when  and  where  he  is  to  be  buried,  and  if  it 

should  appear  that  I  can  be  of  any  service  I  shall  return 


264 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


to  you  at  once  by  way  of  New  York,  instead  of  goin^ 
to  Cambridge.     It  seems  impossible  to  associate  deatl 

Your  loving  husband,  J.  H.  C." 


((n         A,  "12  August  1864. 

"Dear  Mother,  & 

"You  will  be  mortified,  I  suppose,  to  know  that  th< 

McCIellan   meeting   here   on   Wednesday   evening   was 

really  the  largest  public  gathering  ever  assembled  ii 

New  York.    He  seems  to  be  the  greatest  favorite  of  the 

day.     But  for  all  that  I  don't  believe  he  will  get  th< 

nomination  at  Chicago.  *  *  *  „ 


To  the  Same 

"24  Sept.  1864. 
"I  have  informed  you  by  telegram  that  we  have 
son.     The  interesting  event  took  place  this  morning  at 
a  quarter  before  six.     He  is  a  fine,  large  boy,  weighs 
ten  pounds,  sound  in  wind  and  limb,  all  right  in  all  hi 
pipes,  and  already  indulges  in  the  various  sports  peculiai 
to  his  age.  *  *  *  „ 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  29  Sept.  1864. 

"Everything  still  goes  well.  The  little  fellow  has  no) 
a  name  of  his  own,  and  is  to  be  called  'RuIufT  in  honor 
of  his  great,  great  grandfather,  Mrs.  Sterling's  father's 
father  an  honest  old  Dutch  farmer,  RuIufT  Dutcher, 
who  lived  and  died  at  Dutchers  Bridge  on  the  Housa- 
tonic  River. 

"Ruluff  Choate — I  hope  you  will  all  like  it,  and  think 


you  will  after  repeating  it  a  little,* 


*  * 


J.  H.  C." 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       265 

The  war  was  coming  to  an  end.  He  writes  his  mother 
n  March  31,  1865: 

«  *  *  *  We  have  just  heard  the  rumor  of  a  great 
ght  now  going  on  between  Grant  &  Lee.  Surely,  it 
lust  be  the  last.  *  *  *  " 

It  was  the  last.  Lee  surrendered  on  the  9th  of  April. 
President  Lincoln  was  shot  on  April  14,  and  died  the 
iext  day.    On  April  20  Mr.  Choate  writes  his  mother: 

"We  have  of  course  done  nothing  and  thought  of 
tothing  but  the  dreadful  events  of  Saturday.  Business 
las  been  entirely  suspended  and  will  doubtless  so  con- 
inue  until  after  Monday  when  the  remains  of  the 
^resident  are  to  be  brought  through  New  York  in  State. 


Summer  came  and  Mrs.  Choate  and  the  baby  went 
:o  the  country.  He  says  in  a  letter  to  her  dated  "Tues- 
day Evening": 

'Dear  Saint, 

<  *  *  *  j  met;  MJnnfe  Morris  in  the  street  to-day — in 
Wall  St.  on  her  way  to  Brooklyn.  She  looked  very  well 
and  said  all  the  family  were  in  very  good  condition.  She 
sends  her  love  to  you  and  hopes  that  you  will  bring  'that 
baby'  to  see  them  as  soon  as  you  return  to  New  York. 
More  babies !  how  marvelously  they  do  multiply.  Mr. 
Joseph  Jackson  sent  me  word  today  that  he  has  a  baby 
two  weeks  old,  but  whether  his  eyes  are  black  or  blue 
or  of  what  sex,  religion,  or  politics,  the  messenger  could 
not  enlighten  me.    And  as  if  in  testimony  that  this  race 


266  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

of  ours  is  to  be  perpetual  the  next  man  I  met  was  yoi 
old  friend  Earnshaw,  who  said  that  he  had  just  got  hi 
third,  now  about  three  weeks  old.  Does  it  not  remin 
you  of  the  second  and  third  chapters  in  Genesis,  in  whic 
the  biography  of  the  patriarchs  for  some  seventeen  hun 
dred  years  from  Adam  to  the  flood  is  told  in  the  pith 
statement  as  to  each  man  that  he  lived  so  many  year 
and  begat  sons  and  daughters?  *  *  *" 

The  war  was  over  but  had  left  reminders.     He  say 
in  the  next  letter: 

"We  have  to  pay  our  income  taxes  this  week.  It  i 
comfortable  to  have  a  comfortable  income  but  this  U 
of  $550  is,  I  think,  a  little  too  heavy.  However,  I  sup 
pose  the  Government  will  relieve  us  as  soon  as  it  is  righ 
to  do  so.  *  *  *  " 

,,,,  0  "New  York,  Monday  eveg. 

"My  dear  Saint,  j        5 

"  *  *  *     You  will  see  by  tonight's  Post  that  our  im 

mediate  vicinity  has  been  oppressed  in  all  this  hot  weathe 

by  a  defunct  Bucephalus  at  the  corner.     I  remonstratec 

with  Mr.  Gervaise  about  it  the  first  thing  this  morning 

and  told  him  that  he  ought  to  have  cut  it  up  on  Satur 

day,  and  that  his  meat  would  surely  spoil  in  this  ho 

season  if  he  didn't  take  better  care  of  it.     But  it  didn' 

seem  to  have  much  effect.  *  *  *  " 


"New  York,   10  Augt.   1865. 
"I  have  invited  two  gentlemen  to  dinner  tomorrow- 
an  enterprising  thing,  is  it  not,  for  a  man  in  my  situation 
— one  classmate,  Rev.  Mr.  Milliard  who  has  been  al 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       267 

through  the  Rebellion  pastor  of  an  Episcopal  Church  in 
North  Carolina,  and  Addison  Brown  who  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  his  in  college.  William  is  stewing  up  in  the 
parlor  over  a  hot  book.  Mr.  McJimsey  is  smoking  on 
the  stoop.  The  cats  are  raising  the  devil  on  the  ter- 
race, and  I  am  wiping  the  dew  drops  from  my  brow  from 
the  mere  labor  of  holding  the  pen.  *  *  *" 

To  His  Wife 

"Dearest  Carrie,  "New  York'  Sunday  ev^ 

"Every  line  of  every  letter  of  yours  assures  me  that 
you  are  all  doing  well  and  that  is  ample  consolation  for 
this  dreariest  of  Sundays  in  town.  I  do  beg  of  you  to 
make  the  most  of  every  day  and  hour,  for  you  know  that 
you  have  but  two  or  three  weeks  more  now  to  take  in 
your  full  freight  of  health  and  strength  for  a  long  winter's 
voyage.  I  am  sure  that  you  and  Ruluff  both  will  set 
sail  as  staunch  and  strong  and  seaworthy  as  it  is  pos- 
sible for  mother  and  child  to  be,  and  then  if  we  start  so 
fair  the  breath  of  Heaven  must  swell  the  sail  and  bring 
us  all  safe  and  sound  to  reach  the  distant  coast  of  an- 
other summer  in  good  condition. 

"  I  have  had  a  busy  and  distracting  week  of  it  at  the 
office  and  have  had  a  good  many  puzzling  questions  in 
my  head.  Perhaps  you  can  answer  some  of  them.  Are 
cockroaches  'perils  of  the  sea'  or  are  they  chargeable 
to  the  ship?  Perhaps  a  peep  under  our  kitchen  sink 
may  help  us  to  answer  that.  Is  Morris  Ketcham  'a  resi- 
dent' of  New  York  or  Connecticut  if  he  lives  half  the 
year  in  the  5th  Ave  and  the  other  half  on  his  farm  in 
Connecticut?  Perhaps  Wallie's  keen  sense  of  State 
boundaries  may  give  you  a  little  light  upon  this.    If  Miss 


268  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

Robinson*  should  die  intestate  and  (which  Heaven  for 
fend)  without  issue,  would  her  five  millions  go  to  h 
husband  as  next  of  kin,  or  to  the  descendants  of  her  grea 
grandmother,  or  who  else  would  have  it  ?    If  a  mere  wrong 
doer  takes  your  300  bales  of  cotton  and  mixes  them  wit 
a  hundred  of  his  own,  how  will  you  proceed  at  law  t 
repossess  yourself  of  your  portion,  or  can  you  claim  th 
whole?    Is  there  any  way  to  limit  a  right  of  way  aero: 
the  Margarita  mountains  in  California?  etc.,  etc.,  et 
Perhaps  these  will  be  enough  for  you  to  solve  before 
come  for  your  answers. 

"The  city  is  utterly  deserted  except  by  pestiferou 
clients,  who,  it  seems  to  one,  never  will  say  die.  Eve 
at  the  club  last  night  there  was  not  a  soul  except  thos 
of  the  janitor  and  his  boy.  *  *  *  I  went  to  report  ou 
condition  to  Dr.  Draper  and  to  get  his  bill,  but  thoug 
in  town  he  was  out  all  the  evening.  At  church  not  on 
familiar  face  except  the  Sexton's,  and  he  looked  gloom 
and  must  feel  so,  for  all  his  undertaker's  trade  is  gone 
with  the  people  seeking  health  among  the  lakes  anc 
mountains. 

"However,  my  darling,  we  shall  soon  be  together  again 
I  shall  certainly  be  with  you  on  Saturday  evening,  anc 
after  that  the  little  remnant  of  the  dog-days  will  slid 
away  with  telegraphic  speed. 

Bless  you  all 

J.  H.  G" 


„,.  ,Tr  "New  York,  15  Augt.  '65. 

My  dear  Wife,  j       6       7 

"My  journey  down  was  propitious,  and  we  are  hav- 
ing a  comfortable  week  of  it  in  New  York.    Today,  how- 

*  Widely  known  in  later  years  as  Mrs.  Hetty  Green. 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       269 

ever,  has  been  as  full  of  general  excitement  as  any  I  have 
ever  known.  At  daybreak  a  policeman  was  murdered 
in  17th  St.  by  a  gang  of  burglars  between  6th  and  7th 
Aves.  while  he  was  rescuing  a  woman  from  their  cruelties. 
And  down  town  we  were  horrified  by  a  most  atrocious 
defalcation,  which  has  thrown  Jenkins  and  his  miserable 
vallainies  into  the  shade.  One  of  the  young  Ketchams, 
a  member  of  a  very  old  and  rich  house  among  the  Bankers 
has  disappeared  after  forging  an  immense  amount,  and 
has  probably  involved  many  innocent  ones  in  ruin.  He 
had  everything  that  wealth  and  position  and  great  ex- 
pectations and  a  nice  little  family  could  give  him  and 
nobody  can  divine  what  can  have  led  him  into  such  ras- 
calities. Then  we  have  news  of  the  actual  loss  of  the 
cable,  which  has  disappointed  everybody.  Mr.  Tucker- 
man   as   you   might   suppose   is   full   of  the   gloomiest 

forebodings.  *  *  *        ~ 

Ever  yours,  J    H   C " 

Cyrus  Field  laid  the  first  Atlantic  cable  in  1858,  and 
a  message  was  sent  through  it  by  Queen  Victoria  to  the 
President  on  August  16  of  that  year.  In  a  fortnight  it 
ceased  to  work.  The  next  cable  laid  in  1865  broke  and 
was  lost.  The  next  year  another  was  laid  successfully, 
and  a  message  passed  on  July  29.  The  lost  cable  also 
was  recovered  in  1866.  The  Great  Eastern  was  used  for 
cable-laying  in  1865  and  1866. 

(Uf  r>  "New  York,  Augt.  31st,  '65. 

My  dear  Saint,  b    °  J 

"  I  got  your  first  letter  of  the  week  this  morning  and 

it  made  my  whole  day  delightful.     I  guess  Mr.  Warner 

is  right  in  thinking  that  you  are  the  object  of  my  ten- 


270 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


derest  worship,  for  the  mere  thought  of  you  is  always 
my  greatest  happiness.    As  for  Ruluff  I  am  sure  always 
that  he  is  safe  in  your  hands,  and  have  no  fears  that  han 
can  come  near  him. 

"We   are   altogether   comfortable   in   this   dear   little 
home,  and  with  you  all  back  once  more  I  am  sure  thai 
we  shall  perfectly  revel  in  happiness.    In  fact  I  am  look- 
ing forward  to  such  a  year  as  we  have  never  passed  b< 
fore.    I  am  quite  well,  and  have  found  no  need  to  resoi 
to  your  kindly  suggested  remedies.  *  *  * 

Ever  your  devoted  J.  H.  C. 


<<  *  *  * 


To  His  Wife 

"Springfield,  Friday  Evg. 
I   barely  escaped  meeting  Mr.  Southmaye 
here,  for  he  supped  at  this  house  on  his  way  to  New  Yorl 
today,  and  will  reach  home  tomorrow,  which  relieves  m< 
of  the  only  source  of  anxiety  I  had  in  being  away  for 
few  days  in  his  absence — not  that  business  is  just  noT 
oppressive,  but  nobody  knows  at  any  time  in  an  office 
like  ours  what  a  day  may  bring  forth  to  do  or  to  neg- 
lect. 


*   *   *  w 


7b  the  Same 


"New  York.  16  May,  1866. 
"I  arrived  all  right  at  six  o'clock  this  morning  aftei 
as  comfortable  a  passage  as  I  ever  had  from  Boston. 
I  took  a  seat  in  one  of  the  'English'  cars,  which,  if  yoi 
come  that  way  with  Baby  you  will  find  a  great  improve 
ment,  being  a  square  room,  fitted  up  as  a  parlor  witl 
a  table  in  the  middle  and  comfortable  seats  all  around. 
I  had  a  bridal  chamber  in  the  steamboat  and  a  goo< 
night's  sleep." 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       271 

To  the  Same 

"New  York.     26  May,  1866. 
"  *  *  *    Mr.  Tuckerman  and  I  meet  often  and  con- 
dole with  each  other  on  the  wretchedness  of  our  lot  in 
thus  living  without  wives.    We  utterly  detest  it,  as  Louis 
Nap.  says  of  the  Treaties  of  18 15." 

"New  York,  28  July  1866. 
"Dear  Mother,  j 

I  *  *  *     I  am  happy  to  hear  that  the  statuette  finds 

so  much  favor  in  the  house.    Mr.  Rogers,  the  artist  whose 

work  it  is,  and  who  has  until  lately  had  a  hard  time  to 

get  along,  is  now  beginning  to  reap  the  reward  of  his 

talents  and  industry,  and  to  the  delight  of  his  friends  is 

making  a  good  deal  of  money  from  that  and  his  other 

works  of  the  same  kind.    Being  the  latest,  it  is  just  now 

at  any  rate  the  most  admired,  for  they  told  me  when  I 

ordered  it,  that  I  could  have  any  of  the  others  without 

waiting,  but  that  they  had  so  many  orders  for  that,  that 

it  would  take  a  good  many  days  to  fill  mine. 

J.  H.  C" 

To  His  Wife 

"New  York.     31  July,  1866. 

"  *  *  *  What  think  you  of  the  great  news  of  the  At- 
lantic Cable  which  Milton  brought  home?  Really  it 
almost  appals  the  mind  to  think  it  possible.  *  *  * 

"I  found  Mr.  Tracy  and  Mr.  Southmayd  a  good  deal 
wilted — particularly  the  former.  They  will  both  leave 
me  very  speedily.  *  *  *  Mr.  Southmayd  is  more  in 
despair  than  ever  about  his  vacation,  what  he  shall  do 
with  it  or  where  he  shall  go.  He  expects  to  have  a  very 
miserable  time." 


272  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

(( x ,  ~  "  New  York,  4  August  1 866. 

My  dear  Saint,  & 

"The  regularity  of  your  letters  is  most  admirable, 
and  I  cannot  thank  you  too  much  for  bearing  me  so  con 
stantly  in  mind.  *  *  * 

"The  city  is  quite  empty  and  the  streets  deserted, 
noticed  as  I  walked  down  this  morning,  that  there  didn' 
seem  to  be  half  so  great  a  crowd  as  usual  moving  down- 
wards. *  *  * 

"A  hungry  client  has  just  sent  me  word  that  he  is  com 
ing  in  to  see  me.  So,  as  the  afternoon  is  coming  to  1 
dark  and  rapid  close,  I  must  do  the  same  with  my  letter. 

"Do  not  fail  to  write  every  day.  It  is  the  green  spot 
in  my  desert  to  find  your  dear  epistle  on  my  table  when 
I  reach  the  office  in  the  morning.  *  *  * 

"God  bless  and  keep  you,  my  darling,  for  I  know  there 
is  great  good  in  store  for  us.  *  *  *  ^  „ 

iir^  ~  "New  York,  Thursday  eve'g. 

"Dear  Carrie,  j         6 

"  *  *  *    The  President  (Johnson)  has  gone,  and  New 

York  has  relapsed  into  its  usual  repose.    There  is  a  very 

funny  story  in  the  evening  papers  of  their  departure  this 

morning.     They  took  boat  at  Manhattanville  in  order 

to  drive  through  the  Park,  and  Genl.  Grant,  who  was 

in  Mr.  Jerome's  great  'drag,'  insisted  on  taking  the  reins 

himself  and  four  in  hand  running  a  race  with  the  Presi 

dent  and  six,  beating  him  of  course.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C.,J 

"Dear  Carrie,  "NeW  Y°rk'  Wednesd^  ev^ 

"I  know  you  will  be  pretty  disappointed  to  hear  thai 
I  am  going  to  Windsor  this  week  instead  of  coming  t( 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR      273 

you — but  Sir  Henry  Holland  arrived  yesterday  in  the 
Scotia  and  this  morning  I  received  an  urgent  letter 
from  Mr.  Evarts,  asking  me  in  the  name  of  the  entire 
family  to  accompany  the  old  gentleman  to  Windsor. 
He  also  wrote  to  Sir  Henry  to  the  same  effect  hoping 
that  I  would  come  with  him.  Mr.  Weed  brought  him 
to  the  office  this  morning,  where  he  sat  awhile,  in  his 
usual  genial  mood  and  asked  with  much  interest  about 

y°u-  *  *  *  j.  h.  c." 

To  His  Wife 

"New  York,  Thursday  evening. 
«  *  *  *     j)0  vou  not  jong  verv  much  for  the  time  when 

we  shall  all  be  together  again  and  at  home?  I  am  sure 
it  will  be  true  happiness,  with  which  no  other  pleasures 
can  compare — a  sweet  home,  a  true  wife,  a  glorious  little 
boy  and  the  promise  of  a  precious  little  sister  to  keep 
him  company.  AH  things  together  we  haven't  much 
to  complain  of  in  our  lot.  If  we  can  only  bring  up  our 
children  in  the  right  way,  I  shall  bid  farewell  to  all  other 
ambitions  and  be  well  content  with  that. 

"We  are  laying  the  foundations  of  a  tremendous  law- 
suit with  PuIIen's  express.  What  with  the  broken  bed- 
stead, and  the  currant  jelly  which  was  found  on  arrival 
to  be  fermented,  as  your  mother  insists,  with  too  much 
jolting,  poor  PuIIen  will  have  more  than  he  now  dreams 
of  to  answer  for.  When  we  all  get  back  to  town  we  must 
demand  heavy  damages  and  if  he  does  not  respond,  we 
are  to  sue  him  and  have  an  interesting  trial  in  the  Court 
on  the  corner  of  22nd  Street  and  7th  Avenue,  in  which 
you  and  Kitty  and  Ruluff  and  Gamma  are  all  to  appear 
as  witnesses.  William  is  to  try  the  case,  and  there  is 
to  be  a  full  stenographic  report  of  it  in  all  the  morning 


274  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

papers,  to  terrify  wicked  expressmen  who  undertake  to 
transport  bedsteads  and  jelly  pots,  and  to  hold  them 
up  to  a  rigid  performance  of  their  duty.  Perhaps  Mar- 
gie &  Emily  Tuckerman  will  be  able  to  give  valuable 
evidence,  and  I  wish  you  therefore  to  subpoena  them  at 
once,  but  don't  pay  them  any  fees,  for  fear  PuIIen 
should  get  hold  of  them  and  make  it  out  that  they  wen 
bribed. 

"On  my  way  up  tonight  I  stopped  in  at  Hurd  &  Hough- 
ton's and  got  the  books  you  mentioned  and  some  others, 
and  will  hand  them  to  Mr.  T.  to  bring  up.  Besides  'Dame 
Duck'  and  Comical  Rhymes,  you  will  find  in  the  pack- 
age Five  Little  Pigs,  any  number  of  Dogs,  Large  Letters 
for  Little  Folks,  the  country  picture  book,  Nursery  Non- 
sense, and  Rhymes  Without  Reason;  so  that  if  you  think 
there  are  too  many  for  Ruluff,  you  can  give  them  to  Little 
Ding  or  some  other  child.  The  screws  of  the  bedsteac 
have  been  found.  *  *  *  T    J-T    C  " 

"New  York,  i  October  1866. 
"Dear  Mother,  *  *  * 

"I  have  been  appointed  a  delegate  from  our  churcl 
to  the   National   Unitarian   Convention   at   Syracuse — 
next  week — but  cannot  think  of  going.  *  *  *    J.  H.  C." 


To  the  Same 

"New  York,  28  Jan'y.  1867. 

"  It  is  another  boy — as  much  like  Ruluff  as  you  couk 

wish  to  see,  and  was  born  this  morning  at  %  before  4. 
*  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       275 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  18  Feby.  1867. 
«  *  *  *  Yesterday  was  so  fine  that  I  took  Ruluff  to 
the  Park,  and  renewed  his  acquaintance  with  the  swans 
and  peacocks — his  old  friends  of  last  year.  You  will 
find  R.  very  much  improved  in  all  respects  and  very 
interesting.  The  only  fault  in  his  character  yet  developed 
seems  to  be  that  he  will  take  everything  that  happens 
as  a  capital  joke,  and  will  never  be  serious  about  any- 
thing.  *  *  *  j    H    c  „ 

It  was  RuIufPs  father  who  described  himself  as  the 

boarder  at  Mrs. 's  who  "refused  to  be  serious  under 

any  circumstances." 

To  His  Mother 

"New  York,  2  March  1867. 
*  *  *  With  father's  permission  we  shall  call  the 
little  fellow  George,  which  we  consider  of  all  odds  the 
best  name  in  the  family.  Unless  indeed,  you  think  there 
are  already  too  many  Georges  and  that  one  more  will 
create  confusion.  *  *  *  T    H    C " 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  22  Deer.  1867. 

"  *  *  *     We  have  heard  Mr.  Dickens  once,  and  were 

most  agreeably  disappointed.     We  shall  go  again,  and 

I  hope  that  you  will  not  let  slip  an  opportunity  if  you 

have  one  to  hear  and  see  him.    You  know  I  have  always 

been  a  great  lover  of  his  books  and  perhaps  that  lends  a 

charm  to  seeing  him.  *  *  *  t    tj    r> » 

J.  rl.  Lm 


276  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

To  His  Wife  at  Salisbury,  Conn. 

"New  York,  Thursday  evening. 

"This  has  been  one  of  the  vilest  days  that  ever  th< 
sun  refused  to  shine  upon.  Dark,  dismal,  dreary,  de 
pressing,  desperate,  slow,  soft  and  slimy,  wet,  mouldy, 
sticky  and  any  other  foul  epithets  that  you  might  dig 
out  of  the  Dictionary  of  Synonyms  would  fail  to  do  it 
justice.  And  I  have  been  in  a  state  of  mind  exactly  suited 
to  the  day.  Oh*  if  I  could  only  get  hold  of  Mrs.  Safford 
at  this  moment,  I  really  believe  it  would  relieve  me  to 
tease  her  a  little,  or  I  might  even  find  a  modified  comfort 
in  probing  that  wound  in  Horace's  left  ventricle  which 
was  made  by  the  loss  of  'Julia's'  tinnetype.  Who  in 
the  world  is  'Julia'?  Just  follow  up  that  inquiry  and 
see  what  you  can  find  out  against  my  coming.  Unless 
the  skies  actually  fall,  which  now  seems  not  improbable, 
I  shall  certainly  come  up  on  Saturday  evening,  and  the 
sooner  you  make  your  mind  up  to  that  the  better. 

"What  do  you  suppose  is  the  matter  with  the  mail 
between  here  and  Ore  Hill?  I  have  half  a  mind  to  write 
to  the  Post  Master  General  on  the  subject.  Who  knows 
what  a  mild  and  dignified  protest  from  all  of  us  Ore  Hil- 
Iians,  setting  forth  our  grievances,  might  not  accom- 
plish. From  us  staid  old  people,  who  can  read  our  old 
letters  over  when  new  ones  fail  to  come,  perhaps  a  re- 
monstrance would  have  but  little  effect,  but  I  should 
like  to  see  a  cabinet  officer  whose  stolidity  would  be  proof 
against  dear  Jenny's  lamentations,  at  the  loss  of  letters 
from  the  aspirants  who,  I  learn,  have  been  getting  no 
answers,  or  against  Horace's  secret  gnawings  of  the  hear 
because  the  promised  duplicate  of  that  counterfeit  ha 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR      277 

miscarried,  or  even  Miss  Rose's  disappointment  at  not 
hearing  from  one  of  her  many  admirers,  of  whom  to  be 
sure  I  know  none  but  Mr.  Gibson,  but  judging  all  the 
rest  by  him,  the  loss  must  put  all  her  philosophy  to  the 
test. 

"Mr.  Tuckerman  will  I  hope  come  up  with  me  on 
Saturday.  I  met  him  in  the  street  this  morning,  when 
his  conscience  was  writhing  and  wiggling  fearfully  under 
the  last  of  Mrs.  T's  letters  upbraiding  him  for  thinking 
of  staying  away.  I  arn  sure  she  must  wield  a  sharp  pen, 
for  he  was  very  nearly  convicted  on  the  spot,  and  re- 
solved to  go,  and  I  trust  that  my  entreaties  added  to 
hers  and  those  of  his  own  heart  will  bring  him.  It  is 
wretchedly  lonely  here.  Everybody  is  out  of  town.  Wil- 
liam's departure  occurring  simultaneously  with  that  of 
Southmayd  has  well  nigh  broken  my  heart.  I  had  a 
letter  from  S.  this  morning  chronicling  his  arrival  at 
Boston,  and  promising  if  the  fair  weather  of  yesterday 
continued  twenty-four  hours  more,  to  reconsider  his  re- 
solve that  life  was  no  longer  worth  living. 

"We  must  now  have  done  with  the  boast  which  we 
have  so  often  made  and  heard  in  this  block,  that  there 
is  no  nuisance  in  the  neighborhood.  Some  wretch  in 
our  rear  on  22nd  St. — whom  may  the  Gods  soon  dis- 
cover and  destroy ! — has  moved  in  with  an  accordeon, 
with  which  from  time  to  time  he  essays  to  drown  the 
wailings  of  our  cats;  no  easy  matter,  as  we  alone  have 
them  always  in  the  back  yard.  But  he  is  in  a  great 
measure  successful,  so  much  so  that  when  he  tunes  up 
we  all  begin  to  pray  for  the  return  of  the  loudest  feline 
strains. 

"Speaking  of  our  back  yard — its  luxurious  growth 


278  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

would  now  delight  your  heart.  The  whole  shed  is  cov- 
ered by  a  magnificent  squash  vine,  which  is  already  steal- 
ing along  the  clothesline  with  its  delicate  tendrils,  and 
opening  over  the  whole  area  its  golden  petals  to  kiss  the 
fragrant  air.  There  you  see  I  have  written  a  long  letter 
without  a  word  to  say  but  only  this,  that  I  love  you, 
and  shall  come  on  Saturday  to  see  you.     Ever  yours, 

J.  H.  C." 

To  the  Same 

"Salem,  Sunday  a.  m.  May,   1868. 

"I  have  been  not  a  little  homesick  since  leaving  yoi 
For  do  you  know  it  is  nearly  four  years  since  I  have  been 
away  from  home  without  you,  except  once  or  twice  on 
business,  and  I  hope  it  may  be  the  last  time.  *  * 

"  I  hear  nothing  of  special  interest  of and 

except  that  is  working  harder  and  longer  every 

day  than  ever,  leaving  home  immediately  after  break- 
fast and  getting  home  only  at  seven  or  eight  in  the  eve- 
ning, and  this  repeated  every  day  in  the  week.  Making 
haste  to  be  rich,  I  suppose  it  is,  for  who  can  imagine  any 
other  reason  for  such  abuse  of  one's  self  and  family  in 
one  whose  comfort  is  already  provided  for  against  every 
possible  contingency.  I  do  trust  that  whatever  other 
mistakes  we  may  commit,  we  may  never  become  the 
victims  of  ambition  or  avarice,  and  throw  our  lives  away 


in  their  vain  pursuits.  ■  *  *  * 


J.  H.  CI 


Repeatedly  and  still  again,  through  all  the  years  in 
which  the  claims  of  his  law  practice  constrained  him  to 
be  separated  from  his  family  in  the  summer,  there  are 
protestations  as  above,  that  he  could  ill  bear  the  separa- 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       279 

tion.    He  always  did  bear  it  in  so  far  as  he  had  to,  but 
he  never  was  reconciled  to  it. 

More  or  less  of  this  summer  separation  is  the  common 
lot  of  men  of  business  in  New  York.  Only  those  whose 
summer  homes  are  near  by  are  able  to  avoid  it  altogether. 
As  a  rule  Mr.  Choate's  family  spent  their  summers  too 
far  out  of  town  for  him  to  reach  them  except  for  week- 
ends, and  often  he  could  not  do  even  that.  When  finally 
he  fixed  on  Stockbridge  as  his  summer  home,  and  built 
a  house  there  (in  1886),  he  had  come  to  such  years  and 
such  a  place  in  his  profession  as  to  be  able  to  get  long 
summer  vacations.  Stockbridge  is  five  or  six  hours  from 
New  York — pretty  far  for  a  week-end  journey,  but  if 

1  one  can  stay  there  after  one  gets  there  and  really  settle 
down  in  the  climate  and  scenery  of  the  Berkshires,  of 

1  course  it  is  worth  while. 

There  follow  detached  passages  from  the  letters  of  an 
affectionate  man  getting  along  as  best  he  can  with  the 
trials  of  the  summer  separation.  Thus  he  writes  his 
wife  on  the  9th  of  June,  1868: 

"Will  you  believe  it?  Today  is  the  wettest  of  the 
season,  beginning  at  an  early  hour  with  fierce  thunder 
and  lightning  and  heavy  showers,  which  have  followed 

;  fast  upon  each  other's  heels  through  the  day,  and  within 
the  last  hour  it  has  been  black  as  night  and  pouring  in 
torrents.  Mr.  Southmayd  is  in  despair,  being  satisfied 
that  something  is  the  matter  with  the  Gulf  Stream. 

"I  hope  you  get  on  well  with  the  children.  I  have 
carried  all  day  in  my  mind's  eye  the  picture  of  Ruluff 
kissing  his  papa  with  such  an  air  of  business  and  march- 

1  ing  off  even  before  I  had  departed  to  resume  his  sports 

1  in  the  garden." 


280  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

Three  or  four  days  later  he  says: 

"This  morning  in  the  cars  I  met  Miles  O'Reilly  who 
invited  me  to  dine  with  him  at  Delmonico's  on  Monday 
evening  to  meet  a  most  non-descript  company,  which 
I  am  to  do." 


On  the  15th  of  June  he  writes: 


"I  wrote  you  in  such  a  hurry  yesterday  that  I  had 
hardly  time  to  mail  it  before  the  closing,  and  today  am 
sorry  to  find  myself  almost  as  busy.  I  would  give  any- 
thing to  be  with  you  tomorrow  to  celebrate  your  birth- 
day. Do  you  remember  our  first  celebration  of  it  in  1861  ? 
That  was  a  very  nice  day  wasn't  it?  and  how  many 
glorious  days  have  been  ours  since  then.  *  *  * 

"I  am  under  the  necessity  again  of  writing  to  you 
from  the  midst  of  a  reference,  with  one  eye  and  ear  upon 
my  adversary  who  is  addressing  the  Court,  and  the  other 
on  my  letter.  So  if  the  ideas  are  disjointed  you  will  know 
how  to  excuse  it." 


The  next  day,  his  wife's  birthday,  he  writes  her: 


"  I  have  thought  of  you  very  often  today,  and  wished 
I  were  with  you  as  I  ought  to  be  for  the  day's  sake. 

"Our  Miles  O'Reilly  dinner  was  a  most  non-descript 
affair  indeed — Gen'I.  Hancock,  Estee  and  Kilby  Smith, 
Raymond  of  the  Times,  Young  of  the  Tribune,  Hurlbert 
of  the  World,  Dana  of  the  Sun,  O'Reilly  himself  being 
of  the  Citizen,  Sam  Barlow,  Sam  Tilden,  Judge  Pierre- 
pont,  etc.,  etc.  On  the  whole,  I  have  had  more  charm- 
ing times,  and  each  such  dinner  rather  increases  my  av 
sion  to  these  stag  affairs." 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR      281 

The  day  following  he  says: 

"I  am  glad  that  you  are  doing  all  you  can  to  enliven 
father  &  mother.  Keep  it  up  and  make  it  as  jolly  as 
possible.    June  or  never  is  the  time  for  fun.  *  *  *  " 


To  His  Wife 

i 

"New  York,  24  June  '68. 
"  *  *  *    Mr.  Evarts,  as  you  see,  has  consented  to 
accept  the  Attorney  Generalship,  and  now  for  some  reason 

1  or  other  the  nomination  hangs  fire  in  the  Senate.  Had 
I  been  in  his  place,  I  should  have  preferred  my  ease,  my 
practice,  and  my  domestic  responsibilities  to  office  under 
the  circumstances,  but  he  thinks  that  he  looks  at  it  from 
a  high  point  of  view,  and  feels  it  a  matter  of  duty  to  ac- 
cept. 

"The  Chinese  dinner  last  evening  was  a  success.  You 
would  have  laughed  to  see  the  four  illustrious  China- 
men. To  all  appearances  they  were  women,  but  Osgood 
who  said  grace,  offered  thanks  'that  we  are  all  men!' 
so  I  suppose  we  were.  He  also  prayed  that  they  might 
be  brought  to  Christ,  which  was  at  best  a  doubtful  com- 
pliment to  our  Heathen  guests.  They  wore  bonnets 
all  the  evening  shaped  like  washbowls  of  generous  di- 
mensions with  red  feathers  on  top,  capes  to  the  middle 
which  might  have  been  of  rich  stuff  but  which  looked 
as  plain  as  blue  jean,  and  gowns,  without  hoops,  to  the 
feet.  But  the  light  of  intellect  shone  in  all  their  faces. 
I  had  the  privilege  of  sitting  in  silence  to  the  end  which 
I  enjoyed  not  a  little.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 


282  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

The  "illustrious  Chinamen "  that  he  speaks  of  wen 
the  Commissioners  who  came  with  Mr.  Anson  Burlingami 
to  make  treaties  with  the  United  States  and  Europe. 

The  next  day  he  says  in  a  letter: 

"  *  *  *  The  report  from  Washington  now  is  tha 
the  Senate  Committee  on  Evarts'  nomination  are  wait- 
ing till  Saturday  for  Gen'I.  Butler  to  make  his  report 
wherein  he  intends  to  blacken  E.  in  some  way.  Th 
Gen'I.  is  such  an  unmitigated  scoundrel  as  to  be  capabl 
of  any  deviltry  in  that  way,  but  I  think  he  can  do  n< 
serious  harm." 

That  he  came  to  be  somewhat  more  tolerant  of  Gen- 
eral Butler  will  appear  later  on. 

In  a  letter  dated  July  9,  1868,  he  writes  himself  down 
as  that  model  domestic  character — the  busy  man  wh 
is  not  above  doing  the  family  errands. 

"  I  have  fulfilled  all  your  commissions,"  he  tells  his 
wife,  "except  as  to  the  spade  and  hoe  which  I  shall  look 
for  as  I  go  up  tonight.  I  have  also  for  a  great  rarity  in- 
dulged in  a  few  books — new  books  and  yet  old  ones — 
which  I  am  sure  will  give  us  a  great  deal  of  good  reading 
and  entertainment  before  the  summer  is  over. 

"Ruly  too  has  not  been  forgotten  as  you  may  believe 
for  I  have  got  for  him  a  splendid  Robinson  Crusoe  in 
words  of  one  syllable,  'Hans  Andersen's  Tales/  and  an- 
other little  book  of  stories,  which  I  think  will  strike  hi 
vein.  *  *  * 

"Evarts,  as  you  see,  is  to  be  confirmed  as  Attorney 
General.     Butler  made  a  ferocious  attack  upon  him  i 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       283 

his  report,  but  was  overruled  by  the  good  sense  of  the 
Committee  and  the  whole  of  it  was  struck  out. 

"Report  comes  down  town  that  the  Democracy  has 
at  last,  after  trying  every  other  candidate  who  could  be 
thought  of,  fallen  back  upon  Horatio  Seymour  for  their 
Standard  Bearer.  The  easiest  man  of  all  for  us  to 
beat." 

To  His  Wife 

"Salem,  July  16,  1868. 
"That  was  a  hot  ride  to  Boston  on  Wednesday.  *  *  * 
"Our  class  supper  passed  off  successfully — some  of 
the  best  fellows  being  present — though  the  number  did 
not  exceed  our  own  class  supper  in  New  York  last  winter. 
You  will  see  by  the  enclosed  slip  from  the  Daily  Adver- 
tiser that  they  elected  me  one  of  the  vice  presidents  of 
the  Alumni  on  Wednesday  which  is  a  pleasant  and  wholly 
unexpected  compliment.  *  *  * 

"Father  seems  brighter  than  usual.  His  class  cele- 
brated their  50th  year  since  graduating  by  a  supper  in 
Boston,  at  which  out  of  22  survivors  of  the  original  80 — 
14  were  present,  and  Gen' I.  Oliver,  one  of  the  members, 
came  in  yesterday  and  enlivened  father  by  giving  him 
a  full  acct.  of  it.  *  *  *  T    H    T " 

In  a  letter  to  his  wife  on  the  12th  of  August,  he  says: 

"I  hear  (Thad)  Stevens  has  at  last  been  taken  by  the 
Lord.  I  think  that  Andrew  Johnson  would  now  breathe 
a  little  easier.  Butler  thrown  out  of  his  carriage  and 
badly  bruised  in  Gloucester  one  day,  and  Stevens  dead 
the  next.  It  looks  as  though  Providence  was  going  over 
to  his  side." 


284  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"I  am  sorry  to  hear  that  Ruly  has  had  a  sick  head- 
ache. They  can  serve  him  but  one  good  purpose  in  life, 
I  think,  and  that  is  occasionally  to  remind  him  of  hi 
father.  *  *  •  " 

Writing  (to  his  wife)  on  October  9,  after  his  vacatioi 
he  says : 

"The  (Unitarian)  convention  is  over  and  everybod 
seems  to  have  enjoyed  it  but  Dr.  Bellows,  who  offende 
a  large  part  of  the  Convention  by  a  most  indiscree 
sermon  in  the  opening  and  more  again  by  some  foolis 
remarks  yesterday  which  you  probably  saw  reported  in 
today's  paper. 

"Last  evening,  finding  many  of  the  brethren  stand 
ing  about  apparently  supperless,  I  took  several  home  to 
dinner  with  me,  and  so  extemporized  a  dinner  party  wit 
Bro's.  Putnam  of  Brooklyn,  Wells  of  Quincy,  Powers  0 
Danbury,  and  Hodges  of  Cambridge.    By  the  aid  of  an 
extra  dish  of  meat,  for  which  I  made  a  descent  on  Tor- 
hillon's  I  got  along  very  well. 

"Tonight  Mr.  Huntington  of  Salem,  whom  I  met  in 
the  street  today,  is  to  dine  with  me  at  the  Union  League 
and  tomorrow  I  am  going  to  spend  Sunday  with  the  Mor 
rises,  as  I  mean  to  be  alone  no  more,  if  I  can  help  it.    I 
is  making  me  as  blue  as  indigo.  *  *  *  " 

There  follow  from  day  to  day,  interspersed  with  matter* 
relating  to  his  household,  such  items  of  personal  news 
as  that: 

"  *  *  *  You  will  be  pleased  to  know  that  Mr.  South- 
mayd  has  got  a  new  and  gay  suit  of  clothes,  and  is  look- 
ing very  spring-like,' ' 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR      285 

To  His  Wife 

"New  York,  Tuesday  eveg.  '68. 
"  *  *  *  j  nave  been  to  Mr.  Laurence's  funeral,  where 
there  was  a  very  large  attendance.  There  were  several 
clergymen  who  took  part  in  the  exercises  and  each  dwelt 
with  emphasis  upon  his  character  as  a  'sinner*  to  my 
great  surprise,  for  I  thought  he  had  led  a  most  blameless 
life.  As  it  was  too  late  after  the  funeral  to  return  to  the 
office  with  any  hope  of  profit  I  took  a  turn  in  the  Park 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  Jones'  Woods.  The  Park  never 
looked  more  lovely  than  now — as  verdant  as  in  the  spring 
time,  and  as  it  was  a  most  lovely  and  comfortable  after- 
noon, I  found  great  satisfaction  in  the  walk,  especially 
as  it  relieved  me  of  all  the  bad  feelings  inseparable  from 
an  ecclesiastical  funeral,  which  may  I  for  one  escape! 
The  idea  of  holding  up  one's  own  father  as  having  had 
a  narrow  escape  from  Hell,  to  his  weeping  children  is 
such  an  outrage  that  I  wonder  the  world  has  not  long 
since  exterminated  all  these  vile  priests,  who  practise 
such  arts.  When  will  men  learn  that  Death  is  as  natural 
and  as  sure  a  Providence  as  Birth,  and  no  more  to  be 

dreaded  or  vilified?  *  *  *  _  „ 

J.  Jti.  v>. 

Mrs.  Choate,  in  a  letter  to  her  mother-in-law,  describes 
her  husband  as  he  appeared  in  his  discharge  of  what  was 
an  annual  duty  for  many  years,  his  offering  of  discourse 
at  the  New  England  Dinner: 

ux,  - .  "December,  1868. 

My  dear  Mother, 

*  *  *    Tuesday  eve'g  Mother,  Miss  Atwater  and  I 

went  down  to  Delmonico's;    there  we  were  joined  by 


286  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


Mrs.  Vice-President  Colfax  &  half  a  dozen  other  ladies 
&  after  having  some  wine,  ices,  etc.,  served  to  us  were 
ushered  amidst  'loud  cheers'  into  the  dining  room  where 
your  son  was  presiding  as  President  at  the  annual  dinner 
of  the  N.  Eng.  Society.  Immediately  after  we  entered 
the  speaking  commenced  &  I  wish  you  could  have  heard 
&  seen  the  acclamations  &  enthusiasm  which  greeted 
Joe  the  moment  he  arose  &  which  continued  every  time 
he  opened  his  mouth  to  the  end  of  the  dinner.  I  was 
quite  overwhelmed  with  proud  delight  &  wouldn't  have 
missed  the  sight  for  a  great  deal.  He  kept  them  in  a 
constant  state  of  bubbling  delight.  All  the  speeches 
were  good  &  short  &  it  seemed  a  perfect  success.  They 
want  him  to  speak  at  the  Morse  dinner  which  is  to  be 
a  great  affair,  but  I  think  he  is  getting  rather  tired  & 
has  refused.  *  *  *  p    c    c" 


Mr.  Choate's  after-dinner  speeches  were  endless  in 
number,  and  a  good  many  of  them  were  reported  and 
are  of  record.  It  is  worth  noting  that  he  told  very  few 
stories.  The  great  reliance  of  persons  who  are  not  en- 
dowed by  nature  with  a  special  gift  for  after-dinner  dis- 
course is  to  tell  stories,  but  Mr.  Choate  was  never  re- 
duced to  that  and  seldom  turned  to  it.  He  had  other 
things  to  say.  What  he  really  did  was  to  turn  on  the 
current  of  his  remarkable  spirit  of  fellowship  and  of  his 
humor.  He  did  not  need  stories  except  as  they  illus- 
trated something.  He  simply  gave  out  of  himself  and 
his  mind  and  memory  and  knowledge,  and  he  always 
had  it  to  give. 

The  year  '69  began  auspiciously  for  the  Choate  family. 
Mr.  Choate  writes  to  his  mother  on  January  9: 


MARRIAGE  AND  THE  CIVIL  WAR       287 

"You  will  be  pleased  to  hear  that  we  have  now  a  little 
daughter  born  at  3  o'clock  this  afternoon — a  fine  large 
child,  and  Carrie  is  very  comfortabIe.,, 

A  fortnight  later  (January  27),  he  tells  her: 

<  *  *  *  -phe  baby  is  sound  at  all  points,  very  fat  and 
good  natured,  with  dark  hair  and  eyes — promising  they 
say  to  look  very  much  like  her  papa,  and  is  the  most 
comfortable  baby  in  the  world." 

By  the  3d  of  June  his  wife  and  the  children  had  gone 
to  the  country.    He  says  in  a  letter  to  her: 

I  *  *  *  Mr.  Evarts  has  been  in  Windsor  and  returned 
to-day  in  high  glee  at  the  prospect  of  effecting  a  purchase 
of  the  Baptist  Church,  which  you  will  remember  is  so 
homely  a  feature  in  his  garden.  He  talks  also  of  fish 
ponds,  etc.,  etc.,  and  I  fear  that  he  means  to  turn  the 
scene  and  the  water  of  Baptism  into  mere  sport  for  his 
idle  hours." 

In  other  later  letters  written  in  the  same  month  are 
these  communications: 

(June  5.)  "I  got  no  letter  from  you  today,  so  I  take 
it  for  granted  that  you  are  all  very  well  and  very  busy. 
I  am  too.  Today  I  closed  up  a  case  which  I  have  had 
on  hand  for  eight  years  and  feel  an  immense  sense  of 
relief,  and  have  since  been  pegging  away  at  another  in 
which  the  books  and  papers  have  accumulated  to  near 
half  a  cord,  and  which  I  am  determined  to  finish  before 
the  arrival  of  the  hot  weather.  *  *  *  [The  Detmold 
case,  no  doubt.] 


288 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


"Do  not  fail  to  present  our  Josephine  at  the  Baby 
Show,  for  I  have  great  confidence  in  her  taking  the  first 
prize. 


*  *  *  >> 


(June  12.)  "Mr.  Southmayd  continues  in  his  usual 
health  and  profane  frame  of  mind.  I  am  going  to  give 
him  now  a  copy  of  my  speech  but  have  only  faint  hopes 
of  his  conversion  yet.  Some  great  calamity  must  be- 
fall. He  must  lose  his  hat,  or  his  teeth,  or  be  compelled 
to  adopt  the  new  style  of  coats  or  of  boots  before  he  will 
really  turn  his  thoughts  upwards." 

(June  21.)  "I  am  all  'DetmokT  this  week,  but  ex- 
pect never  to  have  to  hear  the  name  again  after  I  get 
through  this  present  job.  *  *  *" 


CHAPTER  IV 

IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

A  SUMMER  IN  NEWPORT — ECHOES  OF  THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR — 
RIDGEFIELD — BUYS  A  HOUSE  IN  47TH  STREET — THE  FIGHT  WITH 
TWEED  AND  TAMMANY — A  WEDDING  AT  WINDSOR — IMPRESSIONS 
OF  QUEBEC — REVISITS  NIAGARA  FALLS — RAILROAD  SUIT  IN  RICH- 
MOND— FITZ-JOHN  PORTER  CASE — VANDERBILT  WILL  CASE — FIRST 
TRIP  ABROAD — VISITS  IN  LONDON  AND  PARIS — WASHINGTON — RICH- 
MOND 

He  wrote  to  his  mother  (January  10,  1870): 

"Ruly  is  studying  the  Bible  with  the  greatest  zeal — 
and  wonders  very  much  at  the  stories  of  Adam  and  of 
Noah." 

So  religious  instruction  was  not  neglected  in  the  Choate 
family.  But  it  took  its  turn  with  levities,  as  appears 
in  a  letter  of  Mrs.  Choate  to  her  mother-in-law  (January 
23)  in  which  she  says: 

"Mary  is  spending  Sunday  with  us.  She  is  quite  ab- 
sorbed and  has  to  submit — indeed  William  too — to  no 
end  of  'nagging'  from  Joe.  Joe  is  in  such  a  continual 
state  of  exhilaration  on  the  subject  that  he  is  quite  un- 
manageable.    I  wish  you  could  hear  him  go  on." 

"Mary"  was  Miss  Mary  Atwater,  the  betrothed  of 
Mr.  Choate's  brother  William. 

289 


290  JOSEPH   HODGES  CHOATE 

Mrs.   Choate  spent  that  summer  in   Newport, 
writes  her  (May  24): 

"How  do  the  horse  and  carriage  answer?  and  the 
coachman?  I  told  Willam  that  you  would  see  that  he 
was  provided  with  currycomb,  brush,  and  whatever  else 
was  needed  to  keep  horse,  wagon  and  harness  in  order, 
and  you  must  keep  him  up  to  that,  and  keep  all  bright 
and  fresh." 


■ 


So  he  has  set  up  a  horse,  carriage,  and  coachman;  and 
in  Newport,  all  signs  of  increasing  prosperity. 

"  I  don't  like  to  go  so  long  without  hearing  from  you,' 
he  writes  (May  25).     "Here  it  is  four  days  since  I  left 
you  and  no  letter.     Remember  that  I  have  four  times 
as  many  reasons  for  wanting  to  hear  from  Newport  as 
you  for  news  from  New  York." 

And  the  next  day  he  says: 

"I  got  all  your  letters  from  the  beginning  only  this 
morning.  I  can't  make  out  from  them  what  is  the  matter 
with  Annie,  or  what  is  the  cause  of  her  bad  behavior. 
I  will  go  about  hunting  up  a  new  nurse,  although  I  hardly 
know  how  to  proceed  about  it,  or  how  to  select  one.  Per- 
haps I  can  advertise  and  let  Susan  choose  for  me.  I  sup- 
pose that  Annie  was  tired  out  and  not  feeling  well,  or 
she  would  not  have  mutinied.  I  fear  that  I  should  often 
be  tempted  to  do  it,  if  I  had  her  work." 

Things  of  moment  happened  in  that  summer  of  1870. 
There  are  allusions  to  some  of  them,  mixed  in  with  more 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  291 

personal  matters,  in  his  letters  to  his  wife.     He  writes 

her  (June  7): 

«  *  *  *  j  g0t  a  fajr  stateroom  and  had  a  comfortable 
journey.  Mr.  Winthrop  Chanler  was  on  board.  He  lives 
in  the  first  house  on  the  right  as  you  go  down  the  Bath 
Road  to  the  Beach.  He  considers  Newport  a  great  place 
for  children — a  very  important  consideration  for  him, 
as  he  has  seven,  the  oldest  only  seven.  *  *  *  " 

(June  11.)  "Think  of  Dickens  being  dead.  One 
can  hardly  realize  that  we  are  to  have  no  more  pleasure 
from  his  living  pen." 

(June  13.)  "I  thought  a  great  deal  of  you  and  the 
children  yesterday  for  we  had  a  glorious  day,  for  a  won- 
der, and  I  spent  a  long  afternoon  in  the  Park  with  Joe" 
[a  nephew]. 

(June  15.)  "Well,  you  have  reached  a  third  of 
your  century  now,  and  all  I  hope  is  that  if  I  am  to  live 
a  half  century  more  you  may  bear  me  company  all  the 
way.  You  know  after  these  nine  years  together  I  could 
not  go  a  step  farther  without  you.  It  is  too  bad  we  can- 
not spend  this  day  together,  but  if  you  wish  to  live  for 
the  holidays  you  must  next  time  marry  some  one  else 
than  a  lawyer.  However,  my  dear,  we  will  make  it  all 
up,  after  I  get  through  with  the  labors  and  distractions 
of  this  trying  month  of  June." 

(June  20.)  "Yesterday  I  made  the  most  of  Central 
Park.  After  breakfast  Joe  &  I  took  the  little  children 
up  and  down  'round  the  Park  in  one  of  the  vans  and 


292  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

then  took  a  boat  for  an  hour,  which  the  children  con- 
sidered great  fun,  and  in  the  evening  I  strolled  up  there 
alone  and  found  it  very  cooling." 

These  were  the  children  of  his  brother,  Doctor  George 
Choate,  of  Pleasantville,  New  York. 

(June  21.)  "Last  evening  I  dined  with  Mr.  Burt  at 
the  Union  Club  prior  to  his  departure  tomorrow.  It 
was  quite  a  telegraphic  company,  he  being  counsel  of 
the  submarine  [cable].  We  had  Prof.  Morse,  Peter 
Cooper  and  C.  W.  Field/' 

(August  17.)  "Will  you  engage  me  a  state  room  to 
New  York  Monday  night?  There  are  $1.  &  $2.  rooms. 
One  of  the  former  will  do  quite  as  well  if  there  are  any 
to  be  had." 

There  are  years  of  life  wherein  a  thrifty  person  spends 
strength  or  foregoes  ease  to  save  money,  and  later  there 
are  years  in  which  the  same  person  will  spend  money  to 
save  strength.  Mr.  Choate  at  thirty-eight  was  still  in 
the  earlier  period. 

(August  18.)  "They  say  that  the  news  today  looks 
better  for  the  French,  but  I  have  not  seen  the  papers 
and  cannot  say.  Certainly  up  to  this  morning  the  situa- 
tion for  Napoleon,  if  not  for  his  people,  was  looking  very 
desperate  indeed.  The  slaughter  on  both  sides  must 
have  been  most  fearful,  and  a  very  dear  price  to  pay 
even  for  so  good  a  thing  as  the  overthrow  of  Napoleon 
and  his  gang  would  be." 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  293 

(August  25.)  "Our  dinner  last  night  at  Mr.  Rhine- 
lander's  was  successful.  S.  G.  Ward,  E.  R.  Robinson, 
Mr.  Peter  Kemble,  Dick  Hunt  and  myself  made  up  the 
party.  Hunt  was  more  vehement  &  boisterous  than 
ever.  How  would  you  like  to  have  a  house  full  of  such 
boys  as  he?  *  *  *  " 

(August  31.)  "Mr.  Blodgett  writes  from  Paris  that 
there  never  was  such  a  time  as  now  and  therefore  great 
bargains  in  works  of  art.  These  Germans  who  by  the 
recent  order  are  being  expelled  from  the  city  are  many 
of  them  very  wealthy  and  old  inhabitants  of  Paris,  but 
are  compelled  to  flee,  and  sacrifice,  in  order  to  do  so,  pretty 
much  all  their  household  goods  and  Gods — so  that  many 
fine  pictures,  etc.,  old  masters  even,  that  are  almost  never 
for  sale,  change  hands  for  a  fifth  of  their  ordinary  value. 
It  is  a  great  pity  that  our  Metropolitan  Museum  is  not 
yet  far  advanced  enough  to  go  into  the  market." 

This  was  the  year  (1870)  in  which  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art  began.  Mr.  Choate  had  been  a  member 
of  the  Provisional  Committee  of  1869  that  was  appointed 
to  establish  it,  and  was  one  of  its  incorporators.  His 
connection  with  it  continued  all  the  rest  of  his  life,  and 
was  always  active  and  zealous.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Executive  Committee  of  its  first  Board  of  Trustees, 
and  was  long  its  first  vice-president,  continuing  in  that 
office  after  he  had  declined  to  accept  the  presidency  of 
the  Museum.  "To  him,  in  large  degree,"  wrote  his  fel- 
low trustees  in  191 7,  "the  Museum  owes  the  breadth 
of  its  original  scope  *  *  *  and  the  form  of  its  relation 
to  the  city  of  New  York,  which  has  made  it  essentially 


s 


294  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

a  public  institution,  a  museum  of  the  people,  sustaine 
largely  by  the  people,  and  administered  for  the  people. 
For  forty-seven  years,  except  the  years  he  was  in  Eng 
land,  Mr.  Choate,  in  the  words  of  the  trustees,  "w 
constant  in  his  watchfulness  over  the  institution  whic 
he  helped  to  found,  always  ready  as  its  wise  counsellor, 
gracious  as  its  spokesman,  a  true  prophet  of  its  future." 

The  address  that  he  made  at  the  opening  of  the  Mu- 
seum building  on  March  30,  1880,  was  reprinted  in  th 
Museum  Bulletin  after  his  death  in  191 7. 

He  sustained  very  similar  relations  with  the  Museu 
of  National  History,  of  which  also  he  was  an  incorpora 
tor,  and  an  attentive  officer  from  the  time  it  began  unt 
the  end  of  his  life. 

(September  17.)  "So  Mrs.  Jay  sent  you  my  ode 
Well,  the  best  of  it  is,  darling  that  it  was  every  won 
true,  and  is  and  always  will  be." 

The  poem  is  given  in  full  in  "Boyhood  and  Youth." 

(September  28.)  "I  got  your  note  this  morning  an< 
was  glad  to  hear  that  you  and  Effie  were  doing  so  well. 
What  a  display  of  domestic  affection  we  made  in  the 
cars  as  you  left  Newport,  Ruly  shouting  'Mama,  let 
me  kiss  you !  Let  me  kiss  you ! '  and  baby  crying  '  Papa 
Papa!'  The  passengers  could  hardly  help  Iaughing- 
but  who  cares  for  that?  *  *  * 

"  We  have  heard  today  of  the  surrender  of  Strasburgh, 
but  I  could  not  help  feeling  a  little  sorry  at  the  news. 
The  French  are  being  pressed  now  a  little  beyond  reason, 
and  the  sympathy  of  all  but  the  Germans  will  soon  b( 
fully  aroused  for  them." 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  295 

(October  14.)  "I  had  an  urgent  invitation  this  eve- 
ning from  the  Unitarian  Conference  to  preside  at  its 
session  here  next  week,  but  was  obliged  to  decline  by 
reason  of  pressing  engagements.  It  seems  their  Presi- 
dent being  dead  and  their  Vice  Presidents  all  absent, 
they  were  at  a  sore  pass  for  a  head,  but  I  am  over  head 
and  ears  in  engagements  for  next  week  and  couldn't  help 
them." 

(October  17.)  "I  have  promised  to  be  one  of  twenty 
or  more  to  invite  Mr.  Hughes  [the  author  of^  "Tom 
Brown  at  Rugby"]  to  dinner." 

(October  20.)  "Our  Hughes  dinner  last  night  was 
very  pleasant — the  company  quite  choice  for  New  York, 
there  being  only  one  wretch  present  out  of  thirty.  Mr. 
Blodgett  was  there,  having  returned  from  Europe  with- 
out his  family.  Mrs.  B.  has  been  very  ill  indeed  in  Paris, 
and  they  only  got  out  of  that  ill  fated  city  on  the  14th, 
the  gates  being  closed  on  the  15th." 

The  siege  of  Paris  by  the  Germans  began  September 
19,  1870.  A  second  siege,  by  the  troops  under  Marshal 
MacMahon,  when  the  Commune  held  the  city,  began 
April  6,  1 87 1,  and  lasted  six  weeks. 

Mrs.  Choate  spent  the  summer  of  1871  at  Ridgefield, 
a  place  more  accessible  by  four  or  five  hours  than  New- 
port, so  the  letters  are  fewer.  Too  few  they  were  for 
Mr.  Choate,  as  appears  when  he  writes  to  his  wife  (August 

16): 

"  I  don't  quite  like  the  idea  of  our  not  exchanging  daily 
notes,  if  nothing  more,  simply  because  we  expect  to  meet 


296  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

once  a  week.  In  fact  I  trust  we  shall  always  keep  ou 
love  to  one  another  as  fresh  and  tender  as  ft  was  ten  year 
ago,  for  that  is  what  has  made  us  so  happy  ever  sinc< 
I  want  to  hear  every  day  especially  about  Georgie  anc 
the  baby,  who  somehow  seem  from  their  tenderness  tc 
press  a  little  closer  to  our  hearts  than  their  more  robus 
and  hardy  brother  and  sister." 

(August  29.)     "It  is  boiling  hot  here  today,  and  a 
most  too  warm  for  Mr.  Astor's  dinner  to  which  I  am 
going  at  six  o'clock." 

(August  30.)     "Mr.  Astor's  dinner  was  a  small  an< 
very  pleasant  one,  being  made  up  of  Mr.  Von  Schlotzen 
the  German  Minister,  Dr.  Vinton,  Genl.  Baldy  Smith 
Isaac  Bell,  S.  B.  Ruggles,  Alex.  Hamilton,  Wm.  Asto 
&  myself.  *  *  *     I  was  glad  to  meet  Genl.  Smith,  for 
my  last  interview  with  him  was  in  the  spring  when 
had  to  cross  examine  him  for  three  or  four  days  together 
as  an  adverse  witness  in  an  English  case.     Then,  too 
he  is  a  good  Democrat  and  he  promised  to  serve  as  one 
of  our  executive  committee  in  the  movement  to  break 
up  the  ring.  *  *  * 

"The  prospects  for  our  meeting  on  Monday  are  en- 
couraging and  we  hear  that  the  enemy  are  greatly  con- 
cerned." 

A  week  later  (September  5)  he  says: 

"You  will  be  glad  to  know  that  my  offer  of  $40,oo< 
for  the  house  No.  50  West  47th  Street  has  been  accepted 
I  went  over  again  this  morning  and  liked  it  better  thai 
ever.  *  *  * 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  297 

"Our  meeting  last  night  was  a  success  in  every  way. 
I  had  only  to  read  the  resolutions  which  were  well  re- 
ceived, but  was  somewhat  embarrassed  by  the  frequent 
and  loud  calls  for  Choate !  Choate !  from  all  parts  of  the 
house  whenever  any  speaker  got  through  and  before  the 
next  got  on.  I  was  surprised  to  find  myself  so  popu- 
lar." 

The  meeting  he  speaks  of  was  a  glorious  incident  in 
what  was  Mr.  Choate's  chief  labor  all  through  this  sum- 
mer of  1 87 1,  when  he  was  one  of  the  most  active  and 
diligent  combatants  in  the  great  fight  against  Tammany 
and  Tweed.  The  fight  began  as  a  public  matter  in  the 
bold  assaults,  of  the  Times  and  Harper9 s  Weekly,  on  the 
robbers  who  had  been  looting  the  city  treasury.  Most 
of  the  active,  public-spirited  men  in  New  York  were  in 
it  one  way  or  another  (Mr.  Evarts,  of  course,  among 
them),  and  for  many,  Mr.  Choate  included,  it  was  an 
engrossing  occupation.  The  leading  lawyers  in  the  battle 
were  Mr.  Tilden  and  Charles  O'Conor,  but  an  immense 
amount  of  work  had  to  be  done,  and  Mr.  Choate  was 
one  of  the  company  of  able  and  devoted  younger  men 
who  did  it.  This  meeting  of  September  4  was  the  cul- 
mination of  a  vast  deal  of  previous  labor.  Mr.  Choate 
seems  to  have  been,  though  not  at  all  by  his  own  choice, 
its  most  conspicuous  figure.  What  he  says  about  it  is 
more  than  borne  out  by  the  story  told  by  Matthew 
Breen  in  his  "Thirty  Years  of  New  York  Politics."  He 
says: 

"Having  analyzed  and  mastered  the  damning  figures, 
the  Times  skilfully  maintained  and  nursed  its  attack 
throughout  the  summer;    then,  when  the  people  were 


298 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


returning  from  their  vacations,  and  election  time  was 
again  approaching,  it  turned  loose  its  heaviest  batteries 
with  a  roar  that  startled  the  city,  by  demonstrating  ir- 
refutably, that  the  municipal  treasury  had  been  robbe< 
of  millions  in  the  most  barefaced  and  reckless  fashion 
Was  it  mere  assertion?  No;  for  the  accusation  was 
accompanied  with  forceful  evidence  of  its  truth.  Be- 
sides, the  Times  pledged  its  good  faith  to  the  public  thai 
it  held  possession  of  the  proofs  that  the  Treasury  hac 
been  looted.  It  gave  out,  among  other  figures,  that  James 
H.  Ingersol,  chairmaker,  was  paid  for  supplying  furni- 
ture to  the  New  Court  House,  $5,750,000.  Andrew  J. 
Garvey  was  paid  nearly  $3,000,000  for  plastering  th< 
New  Court  House;  Keyser  received  $1,250,000  for  plumb- 
ing work;  to  J.  A.  Smith,  wholly  unknown,  was  givei 
$750,000.  Then  the  accounts  showed  that  the  thieves 
were  humorous  rascals,  for  they  had  it  recorded  thai 
there  was  paid  $64,000  to  T.  C.  Cash-man,  who  had  n< 
existence,  while  Phillipo  Donnoruma,  a  wholly  fictitious 
character,  was  credited  with  having  received  $66,000, 
and  the  funny  politician  who  got  the  money  signed  th< 
warrant,  'Philip  Dummy/  Being  interrogated  on  th< 
subject  by  a  newspaper  reporter,  Tweed  said  abruptly: 
'Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?' 

"The  public  was  astounded  at  the  magnitude  an< 
audacity  of  the  frauds.  A  call  for  a  public  meeting  was 
issued  for  Monday,  September  4,  1871,  at  Cooper  Union. 
The  foremost  men  in  the  city  attended.  They  occupiec 
seats  on  the  platform,  looking  dark  and  determined. 
The  auditorium  was  packed  with  merchants  and  busi- 
ness men,  doctors  and  lawyers,  mechanics  and  clerks. 
The  public  intelligence  and  the  public  conscience  had 
awakened  to  the  disgrace  and  the  danger  of  the  situa- 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  299 

tion.  They  sat  silent  and  sullen,  as  they  watched  the 
great  leaders  of  the  movement,  who  talked  in  groups, 
and  almost  in  whispers,  on  the  platform. 

"Former  Mayor  William  F.  Havemeyer,  a  proud 
merchant,  was  made  chairman.  His  utterances  in  open- 
ing the  meeting  were  calm,  but  threatening.  His  manner 
was  what  might  be  expected  of  a  bank  president,  who 
had  to  make  to  the  directors  the  painful  announcement 
that  the  bank  had  been  robbed.  Judge  James  Emott, 
who  followed  Mr.  Havemeyer,  analyzed  the  figures,  and 
then  said :  '  Gentlemen,  there  is  no  denial  of  these  fraudu- 
lent payments  and  there  is  no  fabrication  of  their  amount. 
Now,  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  these  men?'  (A 
voice,  '  Hang  them ! '  This  answer  brought  immense 
applause  from  all  parts  of  the  house.)  '  I  tell  you,  gentle- 
men,' continued  Judge  Emott,  'that  the  world — the 
world  is  waiting  to  see  if  the  men  of  New  York  believe 
in  honesty  or  worship  fraud.  We  must  repeal  this  char- 
ter; we  must  punish  the  guilty,  and  recover  the  money 
to  the  city.  If  the  citizens  of  this  great  metropolis  work 
in  earnest,  they  cannot  be  resisted.  There  is  no  power 
like  the  power  of  a  people  armed,  aroused,  and  enkindled 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  a  righteous  wrath/ 

"Then  came  the  appointment  of  a  committee  on  reso- 
lutions, composed  of  Joseph  H.  Choate,  James  Emott, 
Edward  Solomon,  Henry  Nichol,  Reuben  W.  Hawes, 
John  Foley,  and  Washington  R.  Vermilye.  While  this 
committee  was  in  session  in  an  adjoining  room,  Os- 
wald Ottendorfer,  editor  of  the  Staats  Zeitung,  and  a 
leader  of  the  German  element  in  New  York,  delivered 
a  strong,  fervid  and  powerful  denunciation  of  the  Tam- 
many thieves.  He  was  followed  by  Edwards  Pierrepont, 
who  insisted  that  'the  manhood  of  New  York  should 


300  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

assert  itself  and  drive  the  marauders  from  the  position* 
they  had  dishonored.' 

"The  audience,  anxious  to  hear  the  stinging  rebukes 
and  caustic  sarcasm,  ofttimes  guised  in  pleasantries,  for 
which  Mr.  Choate  was  even  then  noted,  cried  'Choate! 
Choate ! '  Mr.  Choate,  with  a  scroll  of  paper  in  his  hand, 
advanced  slowly  to  the  front  of  the  platform.  He  was 
then  thirty-nine  years  of  age.  Seldom  has  there  been 
seen  on  a  platform  such  a  combination  of  physical  come- 
liness, mental  excellence,  and  moral  stamina,  as  he  pre- 
sented that  evening  when  he  hurled  a  'javelin  of  justice' 
at  the  gorgeous  and  powerful  banditti  who  held  pos- 
session of  the  City  Treasury. 

"  'This,'  said  he  (presenting  the  scroll  of  paper  toward* 
the  audience),  'is  what  we  are  going  to  do  about  it!' 

"Before  Mr.  Choate  had  finished  this  answer  t< 
Tweed's  defiant  inquiry,  the  audience  broke  into  a  whirl- 
wind of  applause,  which  lasted  several  minutes." 

The  resolutions  recited  that  the  bonded  indebtednes 
of  the  city  and  county  had  more  than  doubled  in  tw 
years  and  a  half,  and  their  acknowledged  indebtedness 
was  $83,000,000  more  than  it  was  when  the  present  mayor 
took  office;   that  precise  and  emphatic  charges  of  fraud 
in  the  expenditure  of  this  money,  which  had  been  made 
against  the  present  city  and  county  officials,  had  been 
met  by  them  with  contempt  and  evasion;    that  facts 
and  figures  already  in  sight  compelled  the  conclusion 
that  enormous  sums  had  been  stolen;    that  the  public 
officers  charged  with  these  peculations  were  Tweed,  Con- 
nolly, and  A.  Oakey  Hall;    that  the  meeting  demanded 
full  investigation  and  exposure  of  receipts  and  expendi 
tures  for  the  last  two  years  and  a  half,  and  to  know  who 


1 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  301 

were  on  the  pay-rolls  of  the  city  government,  and  what 
they  got,  and  what  they  did;  that  to  all  these  ends,  and 
to  recover  the  money  the  city  had  lost,  any  available 
legal  remedy  should  be  used,  and  the  law  altered,  if  neces- 
sary, to  provide  a  remedy.  Also  the  meeting  resolved 
to  appeal  to  the  next  Legislature  to  repeal  the  charter 
and  laws  passed  in  1870,  by  which  the  Tweed  govern- 
ment perpetuated  its  power,  and  citizens  were  entreated 
to  make  the  reform  of  their  own  city  government  the 
controlling  issue  of  the  next  election;  finally  that  an 
executive  committee  of  seventy  members  be  appointed 
by  the  president  of  the  meeting,  whose  duty  it  should 
be  to  take  such  measures  as  should  be  necessary  to  carry 
out  the  objects  of  the  meeting. 

Two  months  later,  at  a  mass-meeting  at  the  Cooper 
Institute  on  November  3,  the  committee  of  seventy, 
thus  provided  for,  gave  account  of  their  stewardship, 
and  Mr.  Choate  made  another  speech.  To  persons  who 
have  once  been  schoolboys  it  may  sound  like  Cicero  an- 
nouncing the  discomfiture  of  Catiline.  A  part  of  it  is 
here  quoted  from  the  report  in  a  New  York  paper  the 
following  morning: 

"At  last,  fellow  citizens,  for  the  first  time  in  many 
years,  we  can  once  more  hold  up  our  heads  like  men, 
and  declare  without  any  sense  of  shame  that  we  are 
citizens  of  the  great  and  glorious  city  of  New  York.  Un- 
til within  the  last  three  months  we  exhibited  to  the  world 
a  truly  humiliating  and  disgusting  spectacle.  A  city  of 
a  million  free  inhabitants,  the  metropolis  of  the  continent 
in  every  sense  of  the  word,  the  centre  of  its  wealth,  its 
intelligence  and  its  influence;  the  seat  of  its  commerce 
and  the  starting-point  from  which  all  its  greatest  enter- 


302  \J0SEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

prises  proceed,  had,  nevertheless,  become,  by  the  apathy 
of  its  citizens  and  their  absolute  desertion  of  all  their 
civic  duties,  the  victim  and  the  prey  of  a  gang  of  polit- 
ical miscreants  whose  villainies  were  without  a  parallel. 
Every  avenue  and  department  of  the  municipal  service 
fairly  reeked  with  corruption.  Robbers  sat  without 
disguise  at  the  head  of  the  Department  of  Public  Works, 
in  the  City  and  County  Treasury,  in  the  administration 
of  the  Central  Park,  and  their  hirelings  and  dependents 
filled  almost  every  office.  From  these  points  of  power 
the  band  of  conspirators  exercised  a  gross  and  brutal 
tyranny  over  the  people  of  the  city,  more  grinding  than 
civilized  men  had  before  submitted  to.  Far  worse  than 
'taxation  without  representation/  which  all  history  has 
declared  to  be  sufficient  cause  for  revolution,  it  was  high- 
way robbery  under  the  pretext  of  taxation,  with  no  pre- 
tense of  representation  whatever,  and  before  we  knew 
it  we  had  been  literally  plundered  of  twenty  millions  of 
the  public  money.  At  last  the  press,  true  to  its  function 
as  the  guardian  of  public  liberties,  sounded  the  alarm. 
The  people  awoke  from  their  long  slumber,  assembled 
in  haste  for  mutual  protection,  and  resolved,  as  the  only 
remedy  for  the  wrongs  they  had  suffered,  to  take  their 
own  affairs  into  their  own  hands.  And  now  two  months 
of  vigorous  and  united  action  have  changed  the  whole 
aspect  of  affairs.  The  general  scorn  and  contempt  which 
rested  upon  us  has,  in  all  quarters,  been  changed  to  sym- 
pathy and  fraternal  encouragement,  because  we  have 
shown  a  determination  to  take  care  of  ourselves,  and 
have  resolved,  at  all  hazards,  and  by  whatever  means 
may  be  necessary,  peacefully  if  we  can,  but  if  not,  then 
in  some  other  way,  to  recover  our  mutilated  liberties 
and  vindicate  our  civil  rights.     It  is  true  that  we  still 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  303 

wear  the  shackles,  and  our  necks  still  show  a  fearful  galling 
from  the  collars  they  have  borne  so  long.  But  we  no 
longer  wear  our  fetters  meekly,  and  are  prepared  for  the 
struggle,  however  desperate,  that  shall  cast  them  off. 
We  no  longer  kiss  the  rod  of  our  oppressors,  but  now 
have  snatched  it  from  their  grasp,  and  mean  henceforward 
to  give  blow  for  blow.  We  no  longer  lie  still  with  the 
bedclothes  over  our  heads,  pretending  to  be  asleep,  while 
these  burglars  are  rifling  our  pockets  and  our  safes,  but 
have  raised  the  hue  and  cry,  and  joined  in  full  pursuit, 
and  mean  not  to  let  go  the  chase  until  we  have  hunted 
the  scoundrels  down.  Realizing  at  last  the  deadly  peril 
into  which  the  body  politic  had  been  plunged  by  your 
own  shameful  neglect,  and  convinced  that  it  could  only 
be  rescued  and  restored  by  the  removal  of  the  cause  of 
the  mischief  and  the  return  of  all  good  citizens  to  the 
performance  of  their  public  duties,  you  created  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  to  represent  and  guide  you  in  that 
great  enterprise,  to  search  out  and  ascertain  the  full  ex- 
tent of  the  mischief  that  had  been  done,  to  recover  the 
moneys  that  had  been  stolen,  to  bring  to  justice  the  chief 
criminals,  to  summon  to  your  aid  the  legislative  and 
executive  powers  of  the  State,  to  obtain  the  repeal  of 
the  City  Charter,  to  exterminate  from  office  the  Ring 
and  all  its  minions,  and  finally,  in  the  words  of  your  reso- 
lution of  September  4,  'To  assist,  sustain  and  direct  a 
united  effort  by  the  citizens  of  New  York,  without  refer- 
ence to  party,  to  obtain  a  good  government,  and  honest 
officers  to  administer  it. ' 

"And  it  was  the  fulfilment  of  this  latter  duty,  so  far  as 
it  might  be  accomplished,  that  was  intrusted  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Elections,  whose  proceedings  your  chairman 
has  requested  me  to  report  to  you.     It  was  obvious  at 


3o4  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

the  outset,  in  the  conduct  of  this  great  movement  of 
reform,  that  you  had  no  idea  of  confiding  your  municipal 
affairs  to  either  of  the  political  parties  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  other,  and  that  both  alike,  so  far  as  their  past  par- 
ticipation in  those  affairs  was  concerned,  were  the  ob- 
jects of  your  supreme  distrust.  You  had  no  choice 
between  a  corrupt  Democrat  and  a  corrupt  Republican, 
and  were  perfectly  well  aware  that  the  Ring  of  male- 
factors who  had  usurped  the  powers  of  taxation  and 
government,  and  were  enriching  themselves  without  labor 
at  the  public  cost,  was  composed  of  political  prostitutes 
from  both  the  party  organizations,  and  that  they  found 
the  real  secret  of  their  power  in  the  mutual  betrayal  of 
their  trusts,  and  if  better  chance  or  greater  cunning  had 
given  to  the  base  men  of  one  party  the  lion's  share  of 
the  spoils,  it  was  only  the  want  of  opportunity,  and  not 
of  evil  purpose,  that  had  prevented  their  associates  of 
the  other  party  from  perpetrating  just  as  great  iniquities, 
and  carrying  off  just  as  much  plunder.  With  a  view, 
therefore,  to  rally  the  good  men  of  all  parties,  and  of 
every  creed,  color  and  condition  to  a  united  effort  for 
an  honest  government,  your  Committee  on  Elections 
was  composed  of  an  equal  number  of  Democrats  and 
Republicans,  and  they  were  instructed  to  forget  their 
politics,  to  confer  with  all  organizations,  parties,  socie- 
ties and  individuals  who  might  desire  to  co-operate  for 
the  common  good,  and  to  bring  about  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible a  complete  union  of  all  citizens  upon  one  reform 
ticket  for  all  the  city  and  county  offices  and  for  the  Senate 
and  Assembly.  With  the  State  tickets  it  was  wisely 
concluded  that  we  had  nothing  whatever  to  do,  since 
the  question  of  city  reform  united  the  support  of  the 
honest  portion  of  both  the  great  parties  of  the  State. 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  305 

To  these  directions  the  Committee  on  Elections  have 
faithfully  adhered.  They  have  preferred  none  because 
they  were  Republicans.  They  have  rejected  none  be- 
cause they  were  Democrats.  They  have  counselled  with 
all  and  closed  their  doors  upon  none. 

"They  claim  credit  for  some  forbearance,  for  much 
patience  and  an  unfailing  purpose  to  unite  the  entire 
opposition  to  Tammany,  and  they  are  happy  to  announce 
to  you  that  that  purpose  has  been  substantially  accom- 
plished, and  that  with  some  few  exceptions,  of  which 
I  shall  presently  speak,  a  substantial  union  of  the  friends 
of  reform  will  speak  with  one  voice  and  cast  a  consoli- 
dated vote  on  Election  Day.  It  was  manifest  from  the 
first  that  the  movement  which  you  inaugurated  at  your 
first  meeting  had  aroused  a  response  as  hearty  as  the 
call  was  loud,  and  that  all  classes  of  society  were  pro- 
foundly agitated,  and  that  a  general  determination  per- 
vaded the  community  to  drive  out  the  Ring  and  put 
honest  men  in  their  places.  But  there  was  a  total  want 
of  organization;  there  was  a  countless  number  of  asso- 
ciations, each  with  a  distinct  head  and  under  a  different 
name.  There  were  all  sorts  of  Democrats,  hailing  from 
all  sorts  of  halls,  generally  with  harmonious  and  musical 
names,  but  not  very  harmonious  spirits.  There  were 
Apollo  Hall  Democrats  and  Reform  Democrats,  German 
Democrats,  Independent  Democrats  and  Union  Demo- 
crats, lukewarm  Democrats  and  Democrats  fiery  hot, 
but  none,  I  believe,  professedly  cold-water  Democrats. 
And  even  the  Republicans  were  divided.  We  found 
that  the  Republican  party  of  this  city  had  what  it  was 
pleased  to  call  'wings,'  and  although  we  Republicans, 
when  gathered  in  family  council,  don't  allow  any  criticism 
from  outsiders,  yet  I  in  this  union  meeting,  as  a  Repub- 


3o6  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

Iican,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  devoted  to  its  genera 
policy  and  proud  of  its  record,  may  be  permitted  to  say 
here  that  these  two  wings  of  the  Republican  party  in 
this  city  are  the  strangest  and  most  uncomfortable  pair 
of  pinions  with  which  any  political  bird  was  ever  en- 
cumbered. .  They  will  neither  fold  together,  spread  to- 
gether, nor  flap  together.  Each  goes  in  a  different  direc- 
tion, and  on  its  own  hook,  and  is  more  likely  to  hit  the 
other  and  make  the  feathers  fly  from  that  than  from 
any  common  enemy. 

"Besides,  like  the  wings  of  the  ostrich,  they  are  very 
small  compared  with  the  general  bulk  of  the  bird,  and 
seem  designed  for  no  better  purpose  than  to  make  a  great 
noise  and  flapping  and  frighten  innocent  young  persons 
and  young  political  children;  and,  as  to  locomotion  and 
progress,  why,  a  bird  with  one  wing  would  get  along  a 
great  deal  better.  But,  nevertheless,  out  of  all  this  jarring 
discord  and  these  many  associations  pulling  in  different 
ways,  and  each  having  purposes  of  its  own  to  serve,  second 
only  to  the  great  object  of  reform,  and  sometimes,  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  not  quite  second  to  that,  substantial  har- 
mony has  grown  at  last,  and  especially  in  regard  to  the 
county  ticket,  there  has  been  a  perfect  union.  So  that 
for  once  we  can  show  you  all  the  different  kinds  of  Demo- 
crats of  whom  I  have  spoken,  feeding  at  the  same  trough; 
and  as  to  the  Republicans,  the  lions  of  the  Custom  House 
are  actually  lying  in  the  same  bed  with  Horace  Greeley's 
Iambs. 

"And  here  your  Committee  on  Elections  is  bound  to 
recognize  and  acknowledge  with  gratitude  the  very  great 
service  rendered  to  the  cause  of  union  and  reform  by 
a  body  of  citizens  assembled  in  a  convention  which  was, 
I  believe,  without  a  precedent  in  our  political  history. 
The  Council  of  Political  Reform,  an  organization  created 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  307 

some  time  ago  for  the  purposes  indicated  by  its  name, 
composed  of  respectable  citizens  of  all  parties  and  or- 
ganized in  every  ward  of  the  city,  invited  a  representa- 
tion of  men  of  every  party,  creed,  nationality,  color  and 
class  to  meet  in  convention  and  to  nominate  a  complete 
list  of  officers  for  the  ensuing  election,  and,  having  called 
them  together,  the  Council  of  Reform  left  them  to  take 
their  own  counsels  and  action,  uninfluenced  by  any  policy 
or  dictation  of  its  own.  The  Convention  so  assembled 
at  Chickering  Hall  embraced  every  interest  in  the  whole 
city.  There  were  gathered  in  harmonious  action  Demo- 
crats and  Republicans  and  men  who  had  never  voted 
with  either,  Christians  and  Israelites,  Catholics  and 
Protestants,  Americans,  Germans,  Irishmen,  Italians 
and  Frenchmen,  capitalists  and  working  men,  rich  men 
and  poor  men — all  under  the  one  name  of  citizen,  and 
all  in  the  single  interest  of  reform.  They  selected,  with 
infinite  care  and  after  a  broad  survey  of  the  whole  field 
a  ticket  which,  with  some  inconsiderable  changes,  not 
only  received  our  approval  and  endorsement,  but  that 
also  of  the  united  councils  of  both  branches  of  Republicans 
and  the  Democratic  Reform  party,  and  that  is  the  county 
ticket  which  we  present  for  your  suffrages." 

He  went  on  to  tell  at  some  length  of  the  committee's 
nominees  and  why  they  chose  them.  "We  commend 
to  your  support,"  he  said,  "the  entire  ticket  of  Assembly- 
men, from  the  first  district  to  the  twenty-first,  who  have 
received  our  endorsement.  We  have  studied  the  whole 
island,  from  Kingsbridge  to  the  Battery.  We  have  taken 
counsel  from  all  sides  in  every  district,  and  with  no  other 
object  in  view  than  to  combine  and  concentrate  the  entire 
strength  of  the  movement  upon  unexceptionable  candi- 
dates— have  made  the  selections  which  have  been  an- 


3o8  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

nounced  by  the  press.  We  could  choose  but  one  in  each 
district,  and  have  doubtless  disappointed  the  others. 
But  now  that  the  choice  has  been  made,  if  it  shall  be 
ratified  by  you,  a  new  aspect  will  be  put  upon  the  situa- 
tion in  each  district.  It  will  henceforth  be  certain  that 
the  Tammany  candidates  or  your  candidates  must  cer- 
tainly be  elected.  There  is  no  room  in  any  district  for 
any  third  man,  and  if  any  faction,  party  or  organization 
in  the  name  of  reform  shall  insist  on  going  to  the  polls 
with  any  other  candidate  than  the  one  adopted  by  you, 
they  can  only  do  so  in  the  interest  of  Tammany  Hall. 
Honest  motives  will  be  no  excuse — such  votes  must  tell 
for  Tammany  and  against  the  people — and  we  must  all 
labor  in  our  respective  Assembly  districts  to  concentrate 
the  whole  strength  of  the  movement  upon  these  candi- 
dates. Here  in  the  Assembly  districts  we  fight  the  fatal 
battle  of  this  war.  If  we  fail  to  carry  this  Legislature 
this  city  will  not  be  a  safe  place  for  honest  men  to  dwell 
in,  the  reign  of  the  Ring  will  be  perpetuated,  and  under 
the  disguise  of  a  city  government  rapine  and  plunder 
will  continue  to  destroy  our  rights  and  absorb  our  prop- 
erty, and  life  itself  will  be  in  peril. 

"There  is  but  one  subject  more  to  which  I  am  in- 
structed by  the  Committee  on  Elections  to  invoke  your 
attention,  but  that  is  so  full  of  fearful  peril  and  iniquity 
that  I  fairly  shudder  to  enter  upon  it.  Fellow  citizens, 
you  have  thoroughly  alarmed  your  wicked  enemies  in 
the  very  heart  of  their  stronghold;  they  tremble  before 
your  righteous  wrath;  they  see  the  fatal  halters  dangling 
very  near  their  necks,  and  have  resolved  upon  a  desperate 
and  wicked  resistance.  Satisfied  that  upon  a  fair  vote 
they  will  be  outnumbered  and  driven  from  the  field, 
they  have  resorted  to  a  most  damnable  and  deadly  plot 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  309 

to  circumvent  and  defeat  you.  They  have  determined 
by  a  false  canvass  of  the  votes  to  count  their  candidates 
in,  and  so  to  murder  your  majorities.  To  this  end  the 
Mayor,  in  whom  the  city  charter  has  vested  the  sole 
power  of  appointment,  has  given  to  the  Ring  the  whole 
list  of  inspectors  and  poll  clerks  throughout  the  city, 
and  with  them  the  exclusive  power  to  count  and  declare 
the  votes.  And  he  has  refused  the  formal  request  made 
to  him  by  the  opposition  for  a  recognition  of  their  rights 
under  the  law  and  their  share  of  those  appointments. 
Here,  then,  is  a  crime  before  which  all  the  other  villainies 
of  the  Ring  pale  and  dwindle.  The  theft  even  of  twenty 
millions  of  dollars  is  nothing  when  compared  with  this  high- 
handed and  atrocious  blow  at  the  very  life  of  the  State : 

"'Who  steals  my  purse  steals  trash;  *t  is  something,  nothing; 
'T  was  mine,  't  is  his,  and  has  been  slave  to  thousands.' 

"But  this  wholesale  filching  and  slaughter  of  the 
suffrage  is  a  deadly  thrust  at  the  very  source  and  foun- 
tain of  our  liberties.  Let  not  him  escape  the  responsibility 
of  this  matchless  crime  who  alone  had  the  power  to  pre- 
vent it  and  refused  to  do  so.  On  this  one  outrage,  which 
involves  all  the  rest,  let  us  appeal  to  our  brethren  of  the 
State  and  the  nation  to  come  to  the  rescue  of  our  liber- 
ties and  their  own,  which  it  alike  imperils.  But  in  the 
meantime  what  else  can  we  do?  Why,  by  attending 
to  our  duties  on  election  day  we  can  watch  for  and  de- 
tect the  crime,  and,  perhaps,  in  a  great  measure  prevent 
it.  It  is  with  a  view  to  this  duty  that  our  committee 
have  appealed  to  you  to  close  all  your  places  of  business 
and  to  devote  the  entire  day  to  your  duties  as  citizens. 
Do  you  think  that  those  inspectors  and  poll  clerks  will 
dare  to  cheat  you  before  your  very  eyes  if  they  see  by 
the  numerous  presence  of  courageous  citizens  at  the  polls 


3io  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

that  you  are  determined  to  defend  your  rights?  De 
pend  upon  it  they  will  not.  But  you  have  everything 
at  stake  on  that  day,  and  I  tell  you  that  there  is  a  great 
and  crying  need  of  the  attendance  and  the  services  of 
just  such  men  as  compose  this  audience  to  aid  our  com- 
mittee on  election  day,  to  man  the  polls,  to  defend  the 
boxes  and  to  watch  the  counting  of  the  votes.  Every 
substantial  and  courageous  citizen  who  will  volunteer  is 
worth  twenty  hirelings  in  such  a  service.  There  are 
enough  of  you  in  this  hall  tonight  to  defend  our  rights 
in  every  election  district  and  effectually  to  prevent  this 
meditated  massacre  of  your  dearest  rights.  Will  you 
do  it?  Will  you  for  once  sacrifice  business,  ease  and 
comfort  to  save  so  great  a  stake  ?  We  are  in  fearful  earnest 
in  demanding  it,  and  we  exhort  you,  if  you  would  not 
have  all  your  great  efforts  paralyzed  and  be  defrauded 
of  all  your  votes,  to  enlist  as  soldiers  for  this  one  day's 
battle  and  to  enroll  your  names  tomorrow  morning  at 
the  headquarters  of  the  committee,  No.  39  Union  Square, 
to  bear  your  part  in  this  decisive  contest." 

How  the  fight  was  won  against  the  Tweed  ring  is  matter 
of  memorable  and  familiar  history.  It  was  a  great  fight 
involving  enormous  labor  and  persistent  devotion.  The 
ensuing  victory  had  effects  that  the  lapse  of  half  a  cen- 
tury has  not  wiped  out. 

The  next  letter  relates  to  certain  personal  sequelae  (as 
the  doctors  say)  of  that  great  contest: 

To  His  Wife  in  Ridgefield 

"New  York,  28  September,  '71 

"Prepare  to  poultice!     On  my  arrival,  remembering 

Georgie's  parting  words,  'Papa,  I  'fraid  you'll  fall  down 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  311 

with  those  two  sore  legs,'  I  placed  those  offending  mem- 
bers in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Draper.  He  was  very  much 
disgusted  as  you  may  imagine,  and  says  they  must  be 
poulticed,  all  of  them,  for  three  or  four  days,  and  so  I 
expect  to  come  to  Ridgefield  tomorrow  (Friday)  night, 
and  stay  at  least  till  Monday  morning  for  that  purpose. 
So  you  must  recall  all  your  forgotten  lore  in  that  de- 
partment of  physic,  and  go  in  for  any  quantity  of  ground 
flaxseed.  I  think  Dr.  Draper  would  have  been  better 
satisfied  if  they  had  been  poulticed  while  I  was  with  you. 
In  the  meantime,  he  dresses  them  and  amuses  himself 
but  not  me  in  cutting  out  the  objectionable  portions 
with  his  knife. 

"I  saw  Tuckerman  yesterday,  and  you  may  imagine 
his  joy  at  hearing  we  were  to  be  so  near  neighbors  again, 
and  I  expect  to  enjoy  it  as  much  as  he.  I  also  met  Mrs. 
Delafield,  who  is  not  very  enthusiastic  over  their  summer 
at  Lenox.  Freddy  and  Hare  no  sooner  got  home  than 
they  fell  sick.  The  former  is  quite  sick,  and  they  seem 
to  be  beginning  anew  the  experience  of  last  winter. 

"What  a  glorious  work  was  done  yesterday  at 
Worcester  in  defeating  that  miscreant  Butler.  I 
trembled  at  the  prospect  yesterday. 

"  I  imagine  you  at  the  Fair,  wondering  at  the  big  onions 
and  pumpkins,  and  hope  to  hear  that  Ruly  drew  a  prize. 

J.  H.  C." 

The  story  of  these  sore  legs  is  legitimately  a  part  of 
the  story  of  the  fight  against  Tweed.  One  very  hot  day 
in  July  when  Mr.  Choate  was  deep  in  work  on  the  pre- 
liminary strategies  of  that  fight,  something  went  wrong 
with  his  admirable  machinery  and  he  had  a  chill.  He 
went  home  and  went  to  bed  and  was  seized  by  a  violent 
attack  of  something  like  cholera.     In  the  house  with 


3i2  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

him  was  a  caretaker,  a  venerable  woman  by  no  means 
equal  to  the  charge  of  a  very  sick  man.  Finding  Mr. 
Choate  in  a  state  of  collapse,  she  put  hot-water  bottles 
in  his  bed  and  went  out  and  consulted  the  nearest  drug 
clerk  and  at  his  suggestion  got  his  doctor.  The  doctor 
took  proper  measures,  sent  immediately  for  Mrs.  Choate 
to  come  down  from  Ridgefield,  and  brought  his  patient 
through  the  crisis  successfully.  But  the  hot-water  bottles 
had  burned  his  legs,  and  though  their  owner  soon  got 
around  on  them  again,  and  must  have  stood  on  them 
to  read  the  resolutions  at  the  meeting  on  September  4, 
they  kept  on  being  troublesome,  with  the  result  described 
in  his  letter. 

"  Court  of  Appeals, 
Wednesday  noon. 

n\jr  r>  About   l872 

My  dear  Ruly:  f 

"As  I  shall  not  get  home  to  see  you  until  Friday  night, 
I  send  you  four  little  stories  to  pacify  you  a  little  until 
you  can  hear  more  from  my  own  lips. 

"The  second  story  about  the  pig  you  must  not  think 
is  about  your  papa  or  either  of  his  boys. 

"  I  hear  you  have  had  rain  since  I  left,  but  here  there 
has  been  none,  and  nothing  to  interfere  with  the  boys 
sliding  down  hill,  in  which  they  have  great  fun,  piling 
up  their  sleds  just  as  full  of  boys  as  it  will  stick  and  some 
girls,  and  then  going  pell  mell  down  to  the  bottom. 
Mama  can  perhaps  find  a  full  and  very  pretty  account 
of  coasting  in  Albany  in  one  of  Mr.  Cooper's  novels. 

"  I  hope  you  are  taking  good  care  of  Mother  and  Georgie 
for  I  am  sure  if  you  do  that  they  will  see  to  the  two  little 
sisters. 

"Don't  let  Hare  Delafield  drink  too  much  cider,  and 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  313 

tell  him  I  have  a  secret,  another  secret,  for  his  ears. 
Youw !    Youw !    Youw ! 

"Be  a  good  boy  till  you  see 

Your  loving  papa         J.  H.  C." 

To  His  Wife  at  Catskill 

"New  York,  3  September  1873. 
"  *  *  *     You  don't  know  how  much  I  miss  you  all. 
The  great  trouble  seems  to  be  to  get  through  the  eve- 
ning, and  the  night.     My  days  are  busy  enough,  but 
after  dinner  I  feel  homesick.  *  *  *  " 

(September  5.)  *  *  *  I  dine  every  evening  at  the 
Union  League  Club  where  I  find  agreeable  company 
and  as  President  am  of  course  treated  with  great  con- 
sideration. *  *  *  " 

(September  7.)  *  *  *  I  am  quite  surprised  to  find 
myself- in  town  today,  for  I  went  down  yesterday  morn- 
ing with  my  carpet  bag  and  coat,  resolved  to  go  some- 
wheres  till  Monday,  but  in  the  course  of  the  day  some 
business  came  up  which  detained  me  here.  Our  church 
is  still  closed,  as  I  found  by  going  to  the  door  where  many 
people  seemed  like  myself  disappointed  at  not  getting 
in.  So  I  went  in  to  Mr.  Tracy's  church,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Crosby's,  and  heard  a  truly  old  fashioned  sermon  on 
the  finality  of  the  judgment  and  the  hopelessness  of  hell. 
I  can't  take  my  doctrine  quite  so  strong,  and  am  not 
surprised  that  Mr.  Tracy  who  is  Treasurer  and  Pillar 
there  finds  it  painful  to  smile.  *  *  * 

"I  find  myself  quite  homesick  every  day,  especially 
morning  and  evening  and  shall  be  right  glad  when  I  have 
you  all  here  again." 


3i4  JOSEPH   HODGES  CHOATE 


He  writes  again  to  her  from  Albany  expressing  the 
same  dissatisfaction: 


i 


"This  lingering  at  hotels  is  very  barren  business.  I 
would  rather  have  one  week  in  my  own  dear  home  with 
you  and  the  children  than  a  month  of  any  other  pleasure 
elsewhere.  *  *  *  " 

Because  Mrs.  Choate  could  not  go  with  him  to  the 
wedding  of  Mr.  Evarts's  oldest  daughter  at  Windsor  we 
have  this  long  and  lively  letter  to  her  telling  about  what 
happened  on  that  very  notable  occasion.  Writing  from 
Cambridge,  August  20,  1874,  he  says: 


r; 


"  *  *  *  ^ye  g0t  to  \ymcfsor  after  a  most  tedious  jour- 
ney at  eight  o'clock  Wednesday  evening  and  on  the  way 
and  at  the  depot  were  joined  by  about  twenty  in  all, 
including  Chief  Justice  Waite  and  family,  all  bound  for 
the  wedding.  Mrs.  Evarts  &  AHie,  Mr.  Beaman  and 
Mrs.  Prichard  received  us  at  the  depot,  and  we  made 
our  way  under  the  guidance  of  the  latter  to  the  house 
or  houses  rather,  for  Mr.  Evarts  now  has  four,  having 
lately  purchased  the  large  brick  house  next  below  him 
on  the  street.  I  was  quartered  in  the  home  mansion, 
in  the  frescoed  chamber,  formerly  Willie's  room,  and 
elaborately  frescoed  by  him  in  charcoal,  etc.  Mr.  Butler, 
Mr.  Southmayd  &  Mr.  Tracy  at  as  many  different  houses. 
*  *  *  About  twenty  more  guests  had  arrived  before 
us  who  had  had  dinner  at  four  so  as  to  be  out  of  our  way, 
and  at  nine  we  sat  down  to  a  most  sumptuous  supper 
to  which  we  did  entire  justice,  for  we  had  a  slim  dinner 
at  the  Massasoit  in  Springfield  because  of  the  races  in 
which  Goldsmith  Maid  was  to  trot.    Mr.  and  Mrs.  Evarts 


IN   THE  SEVENTIES  315 

and  in  fact  everybody  was  as  jolly  as  could  be,  and  very 
soon  everybody  was  entirely  at  home.  Mr.  Dickerson, 
Beaman's  partner  and  his  family  were  there,  Judge  Hoar, 
son,  wife,  son's  wife  &  daughter,  Sam  Ward,  James  Thom- 
son &  wife,  Beaman's  pere  et  mere  et  freres,  and  many 
others,  forty-one  in  all,  who  had  to  be  boarded  and  lodged 
for  two  days  and  nights  at  least.  This  part  of  the  affair 
was  so  perfectly  conducted  that  if  Mr.  Evarts  should 
fail  at  the  law,  I  think  he  would  be  sure  to  succeed  in 
the  hotel  or  restaurant  line.  Of  course  he  had  a  large 
force  of  waiters,  etc.  imported,  but  it  was  a  heavy  re- 
sponsibility. Notice  was  given  that  breakfast  would  be 
served  at  the  several  houses,  and  we  were  requested  to 
report  to  Mr.  E.  any  inattention  on  the  part  of  the  waiters 
or  members  of  the  family.  Hettie  &  Mr.  Beaman  were 
most  active  of  all  among  the  guests,  and  you  would  have 
thought  to  see  them  that  it  was  to  be  anybody's  wedding 
but  theirs.  Your  absence  was  very  much  regretted,  and 
I  am  sorry  on  all  accts.  that  you  could  not  have  been 
there.  Hettie  had  but  one  drawback  to  contend  with — 
an  ugly  sty  on  her  right  eye  which  threatened  to  close 
it  up  on  the  morrow.  The  morning  came  and  with  it 
the  guests  gathered  to  breakfast.  After  that  was  de- 
spatched we  scattered  and  walked  about  the  farm  and 
village  and  got  back  in  time  to  dress  for  the  wedding 
at  12.  At  the  church  everything  proceeded  in  due  form. 
Hettie  was  prettily,  yes  magnificently,  gotten  up  in  white 
silk  and  orange  buds  (the  sty  no  worse);  Mr.  E.  gave 
her  away  in  the  best  style,  and  so  she  returned  to  the 
house  as  Mrs.  Beaman.  The  bridesmaids  were  four — 
Minnie,  Mary,  Miss  Adele  Noyes,  and  Miss  Stacy  (of 
Newburgh — I  think  a  friend  of  the  Beamans').  They 
were  all  very  lovely,  as  I  ought  to  know  as  I  kissed  them 


316 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


all,  and  devoted  myself  to  them  in  a  most  particulai 
manner.  Mr.  Southmayd  even  went  so  far  as  to  kiss 
the  bride,  the  first  woman,  as  we  guessed,  that  he  had 
so  treated  in  twenty  years  at  least.  But  the  affair  with 
the  bridesmaids  was  my  own,  in  which  I  allowed  nobody 
to  participate  but  Mr.  Prichard,  whose  mouth  was  water- 
ing so  towards  Miss  Noyes  that  I  had  to  consent  as  to 
her  to  share  with  him.  The  wedding  breakfast  at  2  was 
all  that  it  should  have  been,  very  sumptuous  indeed, 
although  Mr.  Evarts  insists  that  it  was  all  the  product 
of  his  farm  and  garden;  that  is,  he  had  saved  up  all  he 
had  made  from  them  for  ten  years  and  spent  it  on  the 
breakfast.  Mr.  Waite  proposed  the  bride's  health,  and 
Mr.  Evarts  and  Mr.  Beaman  toasted  each  other,  Mr. 
Evarts  giving  'A  legal  luminary — a  son-in-law.'  There 
was  no  end  of  fun  and  jollity.  After  the  dinner  the  young 
people  played  and  sang,  Mr.  Beaman  with  great  effect 
producing  for  the  last  time:  *I  wish  I  was  single  again' 
which  you  doubtless  remember  from  him  at  the  Harvard 
Dinner.  The  bride,  escorted  by  another  team  contain- 
ing the  bridesmaids  &  groomsmen,  went  to  the  depot 
at  5  >£,  departing  under  a  shower  of  old  shoes  and  cheers, 
when  they  experienced  the  first  impediment  of  the  day, 
a  delay  of  2  hours  waiting  for  the  train  which  was  to 
carry  them  to  Bellows  Falls.  But  as  the  Chief  Justice 
had  given  them  the  use  of  a  palace  car,  specially  devoted 
to  his  use  by  the  R.  R.  Co.,  the  delay  was  quite  endur- 
able. Then  we  had  another  stroll  on  the  farm,  and  Mr. 
Butler  and  Sam  Hoar  went  a-fishing  on  the  pond,  catch- 
ing one  trout  between  them  a  few  inches  long.  The  whole 
place  has  greatly  improved  in  beauty  since  our  last  visit. 
At  nine  again  we  had  another  supper,  and  then  to  bed, 
a  very  tired  and  satisfied  company.    This  morning  break- 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  317 


Fast  at  5,  and  took  the  cars  immediately,  reaching  Cam- 
bridge before  twelve.  *  *  * 

"  I  missed  you  every  step  of  the  way,  and  every  minute 
in  Windsor,  and  hope  never  to  go  off  alone  again.  Life 
is  too  short  I  think  for  that.  *  *  * 


J.  H.  G" 


To  His  Wife 


"New  York,  16  Septr.  1874. 
"You  are  not  half  so  good  a  correspondent  as  my  first 
wife  was  or  as  I  hope  my  next  one  will  be: — two  or  at 
most  three  letters  and  all  blowing  me  up  a  little  are  all 
the  solace  I  have  had  since  I  left  you  in  Lenox.  But 
then  I  know  and  appreciate  your  burdens,  and  hope 
that  when  you  are  comfortably  settled  at  Cambridge  I 
shall  hear  regularly.  *  *  *  " 

(September  19.)  "I  must  make  this  letter  out  of  the 
whole  cloth,  as  not  a  circumstance  worth  the  telling  has 
occurred  since  my  yesterday's  writing.  But  then  I  have 
been  reading  Tilton's  new  statement,  and  the  model 
letters  which  passed  between  him  and  his  mother-in- 
law  might  inspire  anybody's  epistolary  power.  I  sus- 
pect that  the  mother-in-law  did  her  proverbial  part  of 
the  mischief  in  that  household.  Poor  Beecher !  Whether 
guilty  or  innocent  I  fear  that  he  will  never  be  able  to 
rescue  his  good  name  from  the  vile  slough  in  which  it  is 
immersed. 

"  It  is  so  abominably  dull  and  lonely  in  the  house  alone, 
not  even  a  carpet  to  tread  on,  or  a  silver  spoon  to  feel 
of,  that  I  am  going  to  make  another  trip  to  Bay  Shore 
tonight,  although  I  shall  return  tomorrow,  should  the 
weather  not  prove  good.     But  the  clouds  seem  to  have 


318  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

spent  their  fury;  the  sky  is  clearing,  and  there  are  man; 
indications  that  the  storm  is  over." 

"Quebec,  Monday  evening.     (1874) 
"Dear  George: — 

"I  want  you  to  read  this  letter  all  yourself  and  no1 
have  anybody  spell  out  a  word  for  you.*  But  if  you  do 
have  to  get  Ruly  to  help  you  with  it  a  little  you  must 
read  it  over  till  you  know  it  all.  I  said  I  would  write 
to  you  from  Montreal,  but  we  saw  nothing  there  that 
small  boys  would  care  much  about.  But  here  in  Quebec 
are  lots  of  things  which  would  please  you  very  much. 
The  City  is  very  old  and  is  built  on  a  high  and  rocky 
hill,  up  which  the  road  is  so  steep  that  Robin  could  hardly 
drag  our  wagon  to  the  top,  but  the  tough  little  horses 
that  they  have  here,  not  half  as  large  as  he  is,  tug  away 
at  loads  much  bigger  and  seem  to  draw  them  up  with 
ease.  The  wagons  too  are  very  funny  here.  They  call 
them  Calashes  (you  may  get  May  to  tell  you  what  that 
word  is).  They  are  like  a  chaise  with  two  wheels  and  a 
little  seat  or  perch  for  the  man  who  drives  on  the  edge 
of  the  dasher.  How  he  holds  on  there  it  is  hard  to  tell, 
but  he  does  somehow,  and  drives  like  lightning,  and  the 
two  poor  riders  inside  are  shaken  all  to  pieces.  The  money 
here  is  gold,  silver  and  copper,  and  they  will  not  take 
our  pennies  at  all,  not  even  for  candy,  because  they  are 
not  large  enough.  Those  they  do  use  are  sometimes  very 
odd  and  queer.  Here  are  two  for  you — one  as  you  will 
see  has  a  dried  cod  fish  on  one  side  and  a  plough  on  the 
other.  The  other  has  two  horses,  and  a  Iamb.  I  will 
bring  home  some  more  queer  ones  for  you  and  Ruly. 

"Today  Mama  and  I  went  to  see  some  real  Indians 

*  The  handwriting  is  very  plain,  with  capitals  like  print. 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  319 

who  live  at  a  place  nine  miles  from  here.  The  Chief 
was  at  home,  and  showed  us  all  the  things  his  people 
made  and  then,  when  he  heard  we  wrere  from  New  York, 
he  brought  out  his  tomahawk,  and  his  scalping  knife, 
and  put  on  his  war  hat  full  of  painted  feathers,  and  took 
hold  of  Mama  (in  fun  you  know)  and  asked  her  if  she 
was  not  afraid.  She  said  'Not  a  bit'  and  laughed  and 
he  laughed  too.  Like  old  King  Cole  he  seemed  to  be 
a  very  jolly  old  soul.  The  Indian  boys  all  have  real  bows 
and  arrows,  and  cry  out  to  people  who  go  by,  'Shoot, 
shoot  pennies,  pennies!'  and  if  you  throw  them  some 
they  set  them  up  in  the  ground  and  shoot  at  them,  and 
the  boy  who  hits  a  penny  with  his  arrow  wins  it  and  keeps 
it  for  his  own. 

"AH  around  Quebec  is  a  great  wall  built  of  solid  stone, 
twice  as  high  as  papa's  head,  and  so  broad  that  if  you 
were  to  lie  on  the  top  of  it,  you  could  hardly  stretch  your 
arms  across.  The  English'  built  it  at  great  cost,  to  de- 
fend the  City  in  case  of  War,  but  now  one  of  our  gun- 
boats would  knock  it  all  down  in  a  day.  I  will  tell  you 
more  when  I  get  home,  if  I  hear  that  you  have  been  a 

good  boy.  ^  t 

J  rrom  your  dear 


Papa.5 


To  His  Wife 


<<  *  *  * 


"New  York,  16  Sept.  1875. 
Horatio  Alger  Jr.  (a  classmate)  breakfasted 
with  me  this  morning.  He  is  wonderfully  interested  in 
boys  in  general,  having  written  any  quantity  of  books 
for  them.  I  told  him  all  about  Georgie,  and  I  think  he 
will  come  and  tell  him  some  stories  when  he  gets 
home.  *  *  *  " 


320  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

To  the  Same 

"Niagara  Falls, 
May  8,  1876 
"I  do  wish  you  were  here  with  me.  It  would  have 
quite  repaid  you  for  the  fatigues  of  the  journey,  includ- 
ing the  baby,  to  be  at  Niagara  even  for  twenty-foui 
hours.  I  got  here  at  noon  yesterday  and  have  already, 
as  you  may  suppose,  explored  the  whole  region,  althougl 
I  cannot  quite  equal  George*  in  seeing  the  whole  thin; 
in  an  hour  and  a  half.  I  was  quite  surprised  to  find  th< 
River  and  Falls  full  of  ice,  great  masses  of  which  ar< 
still  coming  down  from  the  frozen  regions  of  Lak< 
Superior.  Of  course  this  is  the  only  way  it  has  to  get 
out,  unless  it  stays  in  the  Lakes  till  the  heats  of  summer 
melt  it.  At  the  foot  the  Falls  are  still  great  mounds  ol 
ice  which  have  formed  from  the  spray  during  the  wintei 
— not  less  than  thirty  or  forty  feet  high.  You  wouI( 
think  that  these  relics  of  winters  would  make  it  vei 
cold  here.  But  on  the  contrary  yesterday  was  as  soft 
and  balmy  as  you  could  wish.  So  that  I  found  no  nee< 
of  an  overcoat  at  any  time.  The  chief  changes  in  th( 
surroundings  of  the  Falls  since  you  and  I  were  here  an 
the  removal  of  the  tower  on  Biddle  Island,  from  which 
we  had  such  a  splendid  view  of  the  Horseshoe  Fall,  and 
the  building  of  the  suspension  bridge  just  below  the  fall, 
together  with  smaller  ones  connecting  the  Sister  Islands 
with  Goat  Island  and  each  other.  Goat  Island  is  glorious, 
and  I  can  imagine  no  more  charming  place  to  spend  an 
afternoon  now.  Summer  and  winter  seem  to  have  ac- 
tually met  there,  for  while  from  the  shores  huge  blocks 
of  ice  all  around  are  actually  within  reach  of  your  hand, 
the  grass  under  your  feet  is  full  of  May  flowers  of  many 

*  His  brother. 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  321 

sorts,  and  there  were  parties  of  young  ladies  gathering 
them. 

"Last  night  as  you  may  believe  I  slept  like  a  top  from 
ten  to  six  without  once  waking,  and  today  I  am  again 
going  over  to  the  Canada  side  and  if  my  time  allows  to 
Goat  Island  and  the  foot  of  the  Falls.  The  ferry  is  not 
running  because  of  the  ice.  At  four  this  afternoon  I  go 
to  Buffalo,  and  to  Mayville  to  court  tomorrow  morning. 
You  will  find  it  in  Chautauqua  County  at  the  extreme 
tip  end  of  the  State.  Brides  here  are  not  so  plentiful  as 
later  in  the  season.  There  were  but  two  at  the  dinner 
table  yesterday,  and  as  they  ate  their  mashed  potatoes 
with  their  knives,  I  could  not  learn  much  from  them  of 
the  world's  new  ways,  but  they  seemed  very  happy. 

Ever  yours 

J.  H.  C." 

To  His  Wife  at  Babylon 

"Richmond,  Va. 
May  31,  1876. 
"We  arrived  here  safely  yesterday  afternoon,  though 
infinitely  hot,  dirty  and  tired.  But  the  sail  down  the 
Potomac  from  Washington  to  Quantico,  where  we  took 
the  cars  for  Richmond,  was  very  delightful,  passing  Mt. 
i  Vernon  and  other  points  of  interest  which  I  had  never 
seen.  At  night  it  became  very  cool  here  so  that  I  was 
glad  of  my  overcoat,  and  we  have  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity to  prepare  for  our  scrimmage  in  court  which  comes 
off  tomorrow.  Chief  Justice  Waite  who  is  here  says  there 
are  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  lawyers  in  the  case, 
so  you  may  imagine  how  little  there  can  be  for  any  one 
of  us  to  do.* 

*  The  case  was  doubtless  the  same  railroad  case  that  he  speaks  of  on  p.  333, 
but  the  name  of  it  is  lost. 


322  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"Richmond  is  an  interesting  looking  place,  full  oi 
course  now  of  historical  reminiscences  growing  out  oi 
the  war;  but  I  have  not  yet  had  much  chance  to  explon 
it.  By  moonlight  last  evening  the  equestrian  statue  oi 
Washington,  by  Crawford,  was  wonderfully  stirring  anc 
fine.  By  far  the  most  spirited  thing  of  the  kind  I  have 
ever  seen,  and  Lord  Houghton,  who  had  travelled  every- 
where and  seen  everything,  said  the  same. 

"The  town  is  just  now  full  of  Southern  patriots  froi 
every  section  of  Virginia,  attending  the  Democratic  Stat< 
Convention,  all  ranking  as  Judges,  Governors,  Colonels, 
Generals,  Majors,  etc.  The  two  General  Lee's  came 
on  the  train  with  us  and  last  night  I  was  to  make  th< 
acquaintance  of  distinguished  rebels.  There  is  no  en< 
of  little  piccaninnies  but  I  haven't  yet  picked  out  the 
one  to  bring  home  for  the  children. 

"I  hope  to  hear  tomorrow  that  you  are  all  well  an< 

appy'  Ever  yours,     j    pj    C 

(June  i.)  "  *  *  *  Last  night  we  attended  the  Demc 
cratic  Convention,  and  witnessed  some  outbursts  oi 
Virginian  oratory.  There  were  many  allusions  to  th< 
'lost  cause'  but  on  the  whole  they  were  a  fine  looking 
body  of  men,  and  infinitely  good  natured.  Strange  t< 
say  they  generally  seemed  to  favor  Hancock  the  Federal 
General  for  President. 

"Our  case  is  to  come  on  this  morning  but  no  man  a 
tell  what  turn  it  will  take,  or  how  long  it  will  last.  These 
people  seem  to  have  no  conception  of  the  value  of  time. 
They  talk  forever,  and  consider  all  time  consumed  in 
that  way  well-spent,  while  we  are  driven  by  necessity 
to  speak  right  to  the  point,  and  get  through.     Still,  I 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  323 

hope  to  get  home  by  Sunday  morning.     If  I  don't,  it 
will  knock  my  New  York  engagements  into  pi.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C. 

(June  6.)  "Our  case  still  draws  its  slow  length  along 
in  the  most  provoking  fashion,  and  though  I  hope  to 
get  through  today  it  is  only  a  hope.  But  I  have  sent 
four  shirts,  collars  and  handkerchiefs  to  the  wash  this 
morning,  so  as  to  be  prepared  for  whatever  may  come. 
Yesterday  we  had  a  most  delightful  day  at  General  Wick- 
ham's  plantation.  It  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  Hanover 
County  Court  House  where  Patrick  Henry  made  his 
first  great  speech  and  became  famous  in  an  hour.  Of 
course  we  visited  that  which  is  a  most  unique  specimen 
of  antiquity  and  in  the  same  state  and  condition  as  then. 
Henry  Clay  too  was  born  close  by — in  the  Slashes  or 
swamps  from  which  he  got  his  first  name  of  the  Mill  Boy 
of  the  Slashes.  General  Wickham  lives  in  truly  patri- 
archal style  on  a  farm  of  3500  acres,  on  the  Pamunkey 
River,  whereabouts  there  was  great  fighting  in  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion.  He  entertained  us  most  cordially. 
iHis  wife  is  a  near  relative  of  General  Lee,  and  he  him- 
self was  a  Major  General  in  the  same  service  and  was 
desperately  wounded.  His  father,  a  most  refined  and 
courtly  old  gentleman  of  83,  reminded  me  much  of  Sir 
Henry  Holland,  whom  he  knew  well.  The  negroes  there 
live  just  as  they  did  before  their  freedom,  and  we  took 
2jreat  interest  in  visiting  their  quarters.  Tell  Georgie 
that  the  little  negroes  of  his  own  age  read  almost  as  well 
as  he  does.  Mrs.  Wickham  gave  me  a  real  Indian  toma- 
hawk of  stone — probably  hundreds  of  years  old — for  him. 

"I  got  no  letter  yesterday  but  conclude  that  you  are 

all  doing  well.  ~ 

Ever  yours     j    jj    r » 


324  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


(June  7.)  "Last  night  I  dined  with  the  Rebel  General 
Bradley  I.  Johnson — and  the  night  before  with  one  of 
Mosby's  Guerillas — so  you  see  I  am  in  the  heart  of  the 
Confederacy." 

To  His  Wife 

"52  Wall  Street,  New  York 
16  August,  1876. 
"Isn't  our  baby  about  the  loveliest  of  created  beings' 
I  have  been  describing  his  points  to  Southmayd,  trying 
to  excite  his  envy,  but  seem  rather  to  have  only  stirred 
up  my  own  enthusiasm.  It  seems  to  me  that  he  can 
hardly  be  outdone,  until  evolution  in  its  advance  shall 
bring  the  race  to  a  higher  state  of  development." 

To  His  Wife 

"New  York,  7  Septr.   187 
"  *  *  *    There  seem  to  be  no  end  of  people  fearfull; 
hard  up  just  now.    Since  I  last  left  my  chair  I  have  had 
a  chance  to  lend  one  friend  in  distress  three  hundred 
dollars,    which    I    did    not    do,    and    another    stranger 
wanted  five  dollars  to  keep  him  from  starvation  an 
suicide.  *  *  *  " 


- 


(September  9.)  "  *  *  *  I  have  begun  taking  some 
riding  lessons  at  Dickel's  in  the  mornings  before  coming 
down  town,  and  as  I  have  the  teacher  to  myself,  for  a 
whole  hour,  begin  to  think  I  didn't  quite  understand 
the  art  before.  *  *  *  " 


. 


(September  14.)  "  *  *  *  I  am  writing  this  Iett< 
while  presiding  at  the  monthly  meeting  of  the  Club, 
and  as  no  long  speeches  seem  to  be  in  order  I  have  to 
interrupt  it  about  every  other  line,  to  put  a  vote,  or  ap- 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  325 

point  a  committee.  Everybody  seems  to  be  going  to 
the  Centennial  and  I  hear  of  so  many  people  on  their 
way  to  Bryn  Mawr  that  I  think  by  this  time  they  must 
be  full  to  overflowing.  There  will  certainly  be  a  great 
rush  there  as  the  exhibition  draws  to  a  close,  just  as  Ma- 
caulay  says  was  the  case  in  England  at  their  first  ex- 
hibition. *  *    *  " 

To  the  Same  at  Philadelphia 

(October  3.)  "  *  *  *  I  hope  you  are  seeing  the  ex- 
hibition thoroughly.  The  happiest  people  I  meet  are 
those  who  have  seen  it  and  got  safely  home.  *  *  *  " 

(October  14.)  "  *  *  *  I  wish  I  was  going  to  be  with 
you  on  Monday,  the  greatest  day  in  our  History,  in  fact 
the  one  day  of  our  lives  above  all  others.  Haven't  we 
had  fifteen  glorious  years?  The  past  at  least  is  secure, 
and  whatever  may  befall  us  we  can't  lose  that.  *  *  *  " 

To  the  Same  ttXT      xr    f 

New  York 

October  16,  1876 
"I  received  your  nice  letter  this  morning,  but  have 
been  at  Court  all  day  and  so  I  write  at  home  this  eve- 
ning, intending  to  post  it  at  the  Depot  in  time  for  the 
nine  o'clock.  Mabel  is  sitting  on  the  dining-room  table 
in  front  of  me  and  says:  'Send  my  love  to  Mama,  and 
my  love  to  Jo  jo;  have  you  done  it?'  And  Effie  says: 
'And  me  too,  and  to  Auntie  Carrie  too.'  The  little  girls 
have  almost  entirely  recovered  from  their  snuffles  and 
Ruly  is  wholly  well.  E.  and  M.  have  been  spending  the 
afternoon  and  taking  dinner  at  the  McGinnis's,  and 
seem  to  have  had  a  lovely  time.  What  should  we  do 
without  these  dear  little  girls?    Yesterday  morning  they 


326 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


woke  me  up  with  the  loudest  kind  of  shouts  over  th( 
snow  which  was  very  thin  and  stayed  only  a  few  hour? 
but  it  was  a  strong  reminder  of  winter  as  it  was  vei 
cold  withal.     I  have  not  had  the  furnace  lighted,  pr< 
ferring  to  have  an  open  fire  in  the  dining-room  and  an- 
other in  the  nursery  to  keep  the  children  warm.    Today 
I  had  a  very  well  written  letter  from  Joe  K.  to  than] 
me  for  intervening  in  his  behalf.     He  seems  rather  t( 
have  been  advanced  to  a  better  position  instead  of  losing 
his  place  altogether.     Tomorrow  afternoon   I   have  t( 
keep  my  promise  to  Mr.  Cowdin  to  go  to  Mt.  Kisco  an< 
talk   to   the    Republican   Club   there.      I    am   sorry 
promised,  but  must  go.    Mrs.  Bushnell  is  to  make  us 
little  visit  the  rest  of  the  week  on  her  way  back  t< 
Brooklyn.    The  Youngs  are  soon  to  return  from  Phila- 
delphia to  their  house  there. 

"Politics  seem  to  be  getting  very  warm  here.  Mi 
Blaine  speaks  tonight  at  Cooper  Institute  and  I  suppost 
that  from  now  to  Election  we  shall  have  one  continuous 
turmoil.  The  City  Hall  for  days  past  has  been  over- 
flowing with  Paddies  and  Dutchmen  who  are  being  manu- 
factured into  voters  as  fast  as  possible. 

"Do  you  note  what  day  it  is — the  sixteenth?  Whal 
have  we  to  regret  in  it?  and  how  very  much  to  be  thank- 
ful for.  It  has  been  to  me  at  least  the  greatest  day  ol 
my  life. 

J.  H.  C." 


Ever  yours, 


In  a  letter  to  his  mother,  December  18,  1876,  he  says: 


*  *  * 


Ruly  is  taking  lessons  in  elocution,  for  I  founc 
he  was  reading  through  his  nose!  which  no  child  of  min< 
shall  do  if  I  can  help  it.     He  does  very  well  at  school." 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  327 

To  the  Same 

"138  Boylston  St.,  Boston. 
June  28,  1877 
"I  have  been  on  the  drive  so  since  Monday  that  I 
really  could  find  not  a  moment  to  write.  Our  Commence- 
ment junketing  is  over  and  I  have  survived  it  well.  Of 
course  I  had  to  speak  at  the  Alumni  Dinner,  but  it  was 
after  the  President  and  other  dignitaries  had  departed, 
and  the  charm  broken,  so  that  everyone  else  was  anxious 
to  go  and  I  made  it  very  short.  I  will  send  you  an  Ad- 
vertiser with  an  account  of  the  proceedings.  The  Presi- 
dent has  been  most  heartily  received  here.  Though 
staying  on  the  next  block  he  has  never  passed  the  house 
till  this  morning,  always  turning  off  at  the  corner  below. 
But  today  before  breakfast  as  he  was  on  his  way  to  the 
Providence  Depot  we  waved  our  handkerchiefs  from 
the  window,  and  Carrie  and  Georgie  were  delighted  at 
his  apparent  recognition  of  us.  He  took  off  his  hat  and 
he  and  Mrs.  Hayes  made  low  bows,  and  one  of  the  young 
ladies,  who  I  think  was  Minnie  Evarts,  kissed  her  hand — 
all  which  seemed  in  the  quiet  morning  of  Boylston  Street 
quite  a  demonstration." 

To  the  Same  cc  .  TT 

Albany, 

1877 
"As  usual  my  hope  of  getting  off  in  one  day  is  dis- 
appointed, but  I  have  finished  one  argument  today,  and 
my  other  case  stands  third  for  tomorrow.  So  I  hope  to  get 
through  that  in  time  to  come  down  tomorrow  afternoon. 
"You  will  see  that  I  am  at  the  Delavan.  General 
Barlow  and  I  are  installed  together  in  Boss  Tweed's  old 
rooms  which  are  truly  what  is  called  palatial.     An  im- 


328  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

mense  parlor  with  three  bed  rooms  opening  from  it  and 
a  bathroom,  etc.  Whether  there  is  any  of  the  atmos- 
phere of  corruption  still  lurking  within  the  walls  I  d< 
not  know,  but  no  sooner  had  we  arrived  than  Barlow 
was  taken  sick  with  a  severe  bilious  turn,  and  has  been 
in  bed  ever  since,  and  I  have  varied  my  attendance  in 
Court  with  nursing  him.  He  is  better  tonight  and  will 
doubtless  be  all  right  again  in  a  day  or  two. 

"This  afternoon  I  took  a  walk  out  to  the  old  Van 
Rensselaer  place  on  the  Troy  Road  which  you  and 
Georgie  visited  with  me  last  spring.  Its  appearance 
contrasts  strongly  in  its  winter  garb  with  that  which  it 
presented,  but  still  it  is  very  lovely,  and  a  delightful 
relief  from  the  streets  of  a  closely  built  city. 

"It  is  now  eight  oclock  and  beginning  to  rain — and 
as  my  patient  is  sleeping  quietly  I  am  writing  in  the  read- 
ing room. 

"Did  you  read  the  story  of  the  crew  of  the  Loch  Earn 
in  the  morning  papers?  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  their 
charges  against  the  Frenchmen.  Those  officers  I  am 
sure  are  gallant  gentlemen,  and  could  not  be  guilty  of 
abandoning  their  ship  or  the  passengers.        t    T-T    P  " 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  26  Sept.  1877. 
"  *  *  *    The  first  reports  of  the   Republican   Con- 
vention at  Rochester  indicate  that  they  are  a  pack  oi 
geese,  but  perhaps  the  performances  of  the  afternoon 
will  be  more  sensible." 

(September  27.)    "  *  *  *    The  performance  at  Roches- 
ter yesterday  is  the  town  talk  today,  and  everybody 


IN   THE  SEVENTIES  329 

agrees  that  our  distinguished  Senator  has  very  thor- 
oughly finished  the  digging  of  his  own  grave.  Was  there 
ever  a  more  brutal  and  disgusting  exhibition  of  himself 
made  by  a  man  occupying  a  high  public  position?  He 
will  be  buried  so  deep  as  never  to  be  dug  up  again.  *  *  *  " 

This  was  the  convention  at  which  Mr.  Conkling  as- 
sailed Mr.  George  Wm.  Curtis  as  a  man-milliner  of 
politics. 

To  His  Wife 

(October  1.)  "  *  *  *  I  had  a  very  delightful  visit 
at  Oyster  Bay  at  the  Roosevelts*  and  wish  you  could 
see  their  pleasant  way  of  life  there.  They  are  only  twenty- 
seven  miles  from  New  York  and  in  the  midst  of  a  country 
which  doesn't  correspond  in  the  least  to  your  ideas  of 
Long  Island.  Instead  of  the  dreary  sandy  wastes  of  the 
South  Shore,  it  is  a  pleasant  and  well  wooded  rolling 
country,  and  apparently  filled  with  good  quiet  people. 

"We  are  all  excited  here  about  politics  just  now,  every- 
body outraged  at  the  late  performances  at  Rochester. 
We  shall  probably  have  a  great  Republican  indignation 
meeting,  at  which  I  seem  likely  to  be  drawn  in  for  a  lead- 
ing part — probably  it  will  not  come  off  till  next  week. 
*  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 

(October   5.)     "  *  *  *     I  am  going  to  dine  tonight 

with  Sir and  Mr. of  London,  Railroad  clients, 

at  the  Hotel  Brunswick,  which  means  sitting  up  till  mid- 
night talking  over  their  dreary  business.  *  *  *  " 

(October  6.)  "  *  *  *  I  am  undertaking  to  write 
you  while  the  other  side  are  arguing  a  case  before  a 


330  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

Referee,  but  I  feel  pretty  sure  of  the  case,  and  can  lei 
him  half  an  ear.  *  *  * 

"What  do  you  think?  My  long-promised  watch  ai 
rived  yesterday  from  Mr.  Delvalle,  and  is  a  very  beau- 
tiful one.  Hunting  case,  stem  winder,  and  a  repeater 
striking  the  hour,  quarters  and  minutes.  I  have  no  doubt 
it  is  a  very  costly  one.  It  has  my  initials  on  the  case, 
and  will  last  through  little  Joe's  lifetime  after  I  am  gone. 
It  certainly  shows  very  grateful  and  pleasant  feelings 
in  my  long  suffering  client. 

"  I  think  the  weather  is  so  fine  that  I  shall  go  to  Mrs. 
Dominy's  for  Sunday,  if  this  orator  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  table  ever  stops  talking.  He  seems  to  think  he'* 
got  a  very  uphill  road.  *  *  *  " 


To  the  Same 

"Norfolk,  23  Nov.  1877. 
"We  had  a  most  satisfactory  and  delightful  voya^ 
to  Norfolk,  making  the  passage  in  a  little  less  than  twenty- 
four  hours.  *  *  *  It  being  my  longest  sea  voyage  hitherto 
I  enjoyed  it  very  much.  *  *  *  Norfolk  is  rather  a  dismal 
place — flat,  squalid,  and  slipshod  but  evidently  flourisl 
ing.  Cotton,  of  which  it  is  getting  a  very  large  share 
for  shipping,  is  rapidly  building  it  up.  The  negroes  whoi 
you  meet  at  every  step  look  poor,  dirty  and  uncared  foi 
I  expect  to  find  no  difficulty  in  securing  a  little  pick 
ninny  of  the  right  age  to  bring  home  for  Joe.  De* 
little  fellow!  how  delighted  he  will  be  with  his  little 
sooty  companion.  How  much  better  than  any  dead  to] 
it  will  be  for  him.  I  am  very  much  in  doubt  wheth< 
to  take  a  boy  or  a  girl,  and  nothing  but  the  impossibilit: 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  331 

of  solving  this  doubt  will  prevent  me  from  carrying  out 
this  favorite  and  long  cherished  project.  *  *  *  " 

To  His  Wife  in  Stockbridge 

"New  York,  29  June  1878. 
"I  hope  you  find  it  comfortable  in  Stockbridge  this 
sweltering  day.  We  are  catching  it  in  New  York,  but 
I  have  just  received  a  note  from  Dr.  Sexton  saying  that 
he  had  engaged  Capt.  Sam's  boat  and  rooms  for  us  to- 
morrow at  Dominy's,  and  so  I  am  going  down  there  by 
the  six  oclock  train  to  escape  from  the  wrath  to  come. " 

To  the  Same 

"52  Wall  St.,  Saturday  afternoon. 
j  *  *  *  I  believe  I  wrote  you  that  we  had  been  doing 
very  satisfactorily  with  Genl.  Porter's  case  all  the  week, 
and  to-day  I  have  had  a  long  session  here  with  him  and 
General  McCIellan  and  Genl.  Wilcox  of  the  Confederate 
Army.  The  latter  is  to  be  our  next  witness.  Genl.  Pope 
has  concluded  not  to  put  in  an  appearance.  *  *  *  ' 

"West  Point,  N.  Y.  9  July  1878. 
*  *  *  I  came  up  here  yesterday  morning  with  our 
party  and  went  right  to  work  upon  the  case.  It  prom- 
ises not  to  be  so  very  long,  and  I  have  strong  hopes 
that  in  this  week  and  next  we  shall  be  able  to  get  in  all 
our  evidence.  *  *  *  " 

(July  10.)  "We  got  on  famously  yesterday,  bringing 
out  Genl.  Longstreet  and  Genl.  Marshall,  both  of  whom, 
particularly  Longstreet,  were  very  effective  on  Porter's 
behalf.  *  *  *  " 


332  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

To  the  Same 

"West  Point,  N.  Y.  n  Septr.  1878. 
*  *  *  As  to  my  interview  with  Judge  Rapallo, 
was  as  I  suspected  to  retain  me  in  the  Vanderbilt  Will 
Case,  the  biggest  case  of  the  day  undoubtedly  but  one 
of  the  most  disagreeable,  as  there  is  no  real  issue  in  it 
to  be  tried,  and  the  whole  thing  seems  to  have  degen- 
erated into  a  mere  scandal  suit.  I  spent  all  of  Monday 
evening  with  Mr.  Vanderbilt,  who  seemed  to  think  I 
could  do  much  more  for  him  than  I  do  myself.  The  longer 
I  practise  law,  and  the  more  success  I  have,  the  more  it 
seems  to  me  to  depend  upon  luck  and  the  fancy  of  people. 
I  could  point  out  to  him  a  dozen  men  who  would  serve 
him  as  well  or  better. 


*  *  *  " 


To  the  Same 


"52  Wall  St.  Tuesday  afternoon. 
"My  trip  to  Syracuse  was  a  successful  one,  and  I  got 
home  very  early  this  morning  so  as  to  go  into  the  Vander- 
bilt case  which  has  again  lasted  all  day.     Four  nights 
out  of  the  last  seven  in  sleeping  cars !  *  *  *  " 


To  the  Same 


"New  York,  1  October  1878. 

"  *  *  *  The  Vanderbilt  will  case  and  the  Fitz-John 
Porter  case  are  now  in  full  blast,  and  what  time  I  am 
not  needed  in  one  I  shall  have  to  be  in  the  other,  and 
there  are  a  great  many  things  besides  that  compel  my 
attention.  *  *  * 

"I  had  a  lovely  time  at  Bay  Shore  on  Sunday — a 
glorious  day  on  the  Ocean,  from  eight  to  seven  oclock, 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  333 

and  was  the  lucky  man  at  the  fish,  bringing  in  a  hundred 
weight  or  more  of  fine  blue-fish,  while  Charley  Miller, 

the  expert  and  sportsman,  fished  all  day  without  a  bite. 

*  *  * 

"We  are  having  a  sharp  fight  with  most  desperate 
characters  in  the  Vanderbilt  case,  but  it  can't  last  long." 

(October  4.)  "  *  *  *  Mr.  Brown,  our  neighbour, 
has  got  his  extension  already  roofed  in.  Do  you  know 
that  Mrs.  B.  hasn't  the  least  idea  of  what  is  going  on 
there,  and  isn't  to  know  it  until  she  sees  it  on  her  return. 
What  would  you  say  if  I  did  such  a  thing?  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 

To  the  Same 

"Richmond,  Va.  24  Octr.  1878. 
"  I  did  fondly  hope  this  morning  that  the  interminable 
discussion  over  this  railroad  case  would  have  come  to 
an  end  before  the  adjournment  this  afternoon,  but  it 
did  not — these  Virginians  die  game,  and  continue  their 
speeches  to  their  last  breath,  so  that  I  am  a  prisoner  in 
Richmond  for  one  day  more,  and  kept  as  close  (though 
in  more  pleasant  quarters)  as  were  our  countrymen  in 
the  Libby  prison  down  the  street.  I  do  get  so  tired  of 
these  companions  with  whom  the  business  links  me, 
throwing  us  together  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night. 

(Think  of  spending  five  evenings  in  succession  with 

and both.)    Do  you  wonder,  that  I  almost  despair  for 

the  want  of  you  and  the  children?  Even  a  'blowing 
up'  at  your  hands  would  be  a  welcome  variation.  Well, 
I  got  word  today  that  Genl.  Pope  refuses  to  come.  Noth- 
ing so  good  could  possibly  happen  for  Genl.  Porter's 
cause.    Now  if  we  can  drag  him  across  the  continent  by 


334  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

force  of  Uncle  Sam's  strong  arm,  a  reluctant  and  a  hos- 
tile witness,  we  shall  be  ready  to  close  the  case.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 

The  main  facts  in  the  Fitz-John  Porter  case,  what  the 
trial  was  about,  how  it  resulted,  and  the  action  of  Con- 
gress afterwards — are  briefly  and  well  set  forth  in  an 
editorial  of  the  St.  Paul  Pioneer  Press  of  December  15, 
1880,  as  follows: 

"If  the  angels  in  heaven  rejoice  over  one  sinner  that 
repenteth,  the  celestial  host  must  have  stood  in  a  mourn- 
ful silence  when  the  vote  was  taken  on  Senator  Randolph's 
bill  to  restore  Fitz-John  Porter  to  the  army  and  to  place 
him  on  the  retired  list  with  the  rank  of  colonel.  This 
is  meager  amends  for  the  cruel  injustice  which  Porter 
has  suffered  for  the  last  eighteen  years;  but  inadequate 
as  it  is,  not  a  single  Republican  vote  was  recorded  for 
it,  and  the  fact  is  one  which  history  will  record  to  the 
shame  of  the  Republican  party.  Fitz-John  Porter  was 
condemned  by  a  military  court  martial  hurriedly  con- 
vened in  1862,  on  the  charge  substantially  of  treasonable 
disobedience  of  orders  and  of  treasonable  inactivity  in 
the  face  of  the  enemy,  on  testimony  which  subsequent 
investigation  has  conclusively  demonstrated  to  have  been 
false  and  erroneous,  and  some  of  it  perjured.  Porter 
protested  in  vain  against  the  justice  of  the  judgment 
of  the  court  martial,  and  never  ceased  to  ask  for  a  re- 
examination of  the  facts  in  the  case.  This  was  granted 
by  President  Hayes,  who  appointed  a  board  of  officers 
to  make  a  full  investigation  of  all  new  and  other  evidence 
in  the  case  and  report  such  evidence,  with  their  con- 
clusions, to  the  president.    This  board  consisted  of  Gens. 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  335 

Schofield  and  Terry  and  Col.  Getty,  with  Maj.  B.  Gard- 
ner, judge  advocate,  as  recorder.  This  board  convened 
at  West  Point  in  June,  1878,  and  was  engaged  for  nearly 
ten  months  in  a  thorough  and  exhaustive  investigation 
of  the  facts.  The  report  of  the  board  made  on  March 
19,  1879,  was  a  complete  and  triumphant  vindication  of 
Gen.  Porter.  They  declared,  in  substance,  that  the  find- 
ings of  the  court  martial,  which  condemned  Porter,  were 
based  upon  a  total  misconception  of  the  essential  facts 
in  every  case  on  which  a  specification  was  based.  'All 
the  essential  facts,'  say  the  board  in  summing  up,  'in 
every  instance  stand  out  in  clear  and  absolute  contrast 
to  those  supposed  facts  on  which  Gen.  Porter  was  ad- 
judged guilty.'  The  fundamental  errors  on  which  Porter 
was  convicted  were  fictions  invented,  and  ever  since 
maintained,  to  cover  up  the  radical  faults  of  generalship 
displayed  by  Gen.  Pope  during  his  Virginia  campaign 
in  the  summer  of  1862,  and  to  make  Porter  the  scapegoat 
of  disasters  for  which  Pope  alone  was  responsible.  These 
errors  ran  through  all  the  testimony  before  the  court 
martial,  and  were  conspicuously  exhibited  in  the  maps 
used  before  that  body  to  show  the  relative  positions  of 
the  various  corps  of  the  Union  and  rebel  armies.  Gen. 
Porter  and  the  other  divisions  of  the  Union  army  were 
placed  by  that  testimony  and  those  maps  in  positions 
relative  to  the  enemy  and  to  each  other  wholly  different 
from  the  actual  facts." 

In  his  final  summing  up  in  General  Porter's  case,  Mr. 
Choate  told  how  he  came  to  take  it.    He  said: 

"I  must  confess,  almost  with  shame,  that  for  more 
than  fifteen  years  I  was  one  of  those  heedless  and  un- 


336 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


thinking  millions  who  took  it  for  granted  that  Genen 
Porter  was  guilty.     Not  guilty,  if  you  please,  of  the 
atrocious  crimes  of  which  he  was  convicted,  because 
never  knew  the  exact  nature  of  these  charges ;  but  guilt; 
of  something  heinous  and  derogatory  to  his  charactei 
as  a  soldier.    I  had  taken  it  for  granted,  as  I  believe  the 
millions  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  had,  that 
court  martial  consisting  of  nine  eminent  generals  sittinj 
in  judgment  upon  their  peer,  could  not  have  found  hii 
guilty,  and  put  upon  him  the  brand  of  infamy,  which  i< 
conveyed  by  their  sentence,  unless  he  had  really  coi 
mitted  some  fearful  crime.     When  he  came  to  ask  m< 
to  act  for  him  in  a  professional  capacity,  I  was  obIige< 
to  tell  him  so;    and  he  said,  with  a  manliness,  which 
shall  never  forget,  that  he  would  not  ask  me  to  act  foi 
him  unless  upon  an  examination  of  the  record,  and  upoi 
the  facts  that  he  had  to  present,  I  was  satisfied  of  hi 
innocence,  and  further  even  than  that,  for  he  added  thai 
if  after  taking  his  case  I  should  find,  as  it  proceeded, 
and  was  developed,  any  reason  to  believe  him  guilty, 
I  should  be  at  liberty  to  abandon  it.    Well,  I  examine 
the  record.    I  found  that  the  case  had  not  been  half  tried; 
that  the  trial  had  taken  place  in  the  midst  of  the  fright- 
ful excitement  of  war,  when  party  and  sectional  passions 
were  at  their  utmost  height,  when  the  disasters  in  whicl 
the  war  had  involved  the  country  had  saturated  the 
minds  of  the  people — and  of  almost  all  the  soldiers  oi 
the  country — with  alarm  and  indignation.    I  found  thai 
there  were  circumstances  most  unfavorable  to  justice 
in  the  surroundings  and  in  the  composition  of  the  coui 
which  tried  him.    I  found  that  one  half  of  the  main  wit- 
nesses cognizant  of  the  facts  had  not  been  accessible  t( 
him  or  to  the  court  at  the  time  of  the  trial.    I  found  thai 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  337 

the  most  able  and  learned  jurists  of  the  country,  in  ex- 
amining the  case,  had  pronounced  that  even  upon  the 
record  as  it  stood,  there  was  no  evidence  fairly,  upon 
the  acknowledged  principles  of  justice,  to  sustain  the 
conviction." 

Having  satisfied  himself  that  General  Porter  had  been 
unjustly  used,  Mr.  Choate  took  the  case  as  a  matter  of 
public  duty.  There  was  no  other  motive.  He  never 
received  or  expected  to  receive  payment  for  his  labors 
from  General  Porter.  By  working  very  hard,  living 
well  within  his  income,  and  presumably  investing  his 
savings  wisely  for  forty  years  he  accumulated  a  fortune 
1  that  was  certainly  comfortable  and  might  even  be  con- 
sidered large,  though  not  for  this  century.  Consequently 
he  was  sometimes  criticised  for  not  being  a  more  liberal 
giver  of  money  to  various  causes  that  invited  it.  But 
it  should  be  always  remembered  that  he  was  all  his  life 
:  a  prodigal  giver  of  time,  thought,  and  the  best  and  hardest 
I  work  he  could  do  to  the  public  service,  to  charity,  and 
1  to  the  righting  of  private  wrongs  as  in  this  case  of  Fitz- 
John  Porter  and,  later,  in  the  Laidlaw  case.  These  and 
many  other  labors  in  court,  and  innumerable  speeches 
and  addresses  out  of  court,  and  other  services,  a  long 
1  list,  were  his  chief  contributions  to  the  world  he  lived 
in  and  the  country  that  was  his.  In  those  services — 
those  great  and  unceasing  gifts  to  society — lies  the  chief 
basis  of  the  honor  and  affection  in  which  he  was  held 
and  of  a  renown  much  exceeding  what  may  be  won  solely 
in  the  practice  of  law.  He  did  give  money  first  and  last 
in  appreciable  quantity,  but  his  great  gifts  came  not 
out  of  his  pocket  but  out  of  himself. 


338  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"New  York,  Thursday  7^  a.  m 

«**  r>  June  l879- 

My  dearest  Georgie: — 

"We  shall  be  off  at  8  o'clock,  and  my  last  word  is  to 
you  and  your  dear  sisters  and  Jo.  I  hope  you  will  all 
be  as  good  as  pie  all  summer,  and  that  we  shall  hear  noth- 
ing but  the  best  accounts  of  you  every  time.  I  am  sure 
that  with  Kitty  and  Gyp  you  cannot  but  be  happy,  but 
you  must  not  forget  to  be  as  good  as  you  are  happy  every 
day.  Don't  forget  Mother's  written  rules,  and  I  must 
not  hear  that  you  have  ever  broken  one  of  them.  And 
mind  Grandma  every  time  she  speaks,  for  you  must  know 
that  it  is  a  great  care  for  her  to  have  charge  of  you  all, 
and  you  can  help  her  very  much  by  prompt  obedience 
all  the  time.  I  expect  to  hear  of  you  as  a  little  man  al- 
ways. 

"These  three  months  that  we  are  away  will  slide  away 
very  fast,  and  we  shall  soon  be  together  again,  when  I 
want  to  be  very  proud  of  you  for  your  good  conduct  all 
summer.  Don't  nag  the  little  girls,  or  tease  Jo  at  all, 
and  if  anybody  tries  to  tease  you  don't  mind  it,  but  only 
laugh  at  them. 

"I  enclose  six  dollars  to  be  divided  equally  between 
you  and  Mabel  and  Effie.  That  will  be  two  for  yourself 
for  Fourth  of  July  and  two  for  each  of  them.  I  suppose 
they  will  not  want  to  spend  much  of  theirs  for  Fourth 
of  July,  but  with  your  two  dollars  you  can  get  crackers 
and  torpedoes  at  Stockbridge  or  at  Great  Barrington. 
But  be  sure  and  not  get  burnt  or  blown  up. 

"Good  bye,  my  darling  boy,  and  give  each  of  yo 
sisters  and  your  splendid  brother  a  kiss  from  dear 

Papa." 


>n. 


Be  sure  not  to  race  Kitty,    I  know  that  you  love  her 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  339 

very  much,  but  you  do  sometimes  forget  and  you  might 
spoil  her  by  a  single  hard  race/' 


"Steamer  Celtic,  off  Queenstown. 

"Dear  Mother,  *       J       /y 

I  will  not  leave  you  quite  without  the  means  of  trac- 
ing our  course  at  least  upon  the  map  as  we  go  upon  this 
pleasant  journey.  We  have  made  what  the  Captain 
calls  an  excellent  run,  and  are  now  in  momentary  ex- 
pectation of  experiencing  what  I  have  often  heard  de- 
scribed the  strange  sensation  of  the  first  sight  of  land. 
The  voyage  has  been  altogether  delightful,  with  all  sorts 
of  weather,  hot  and  cold,  wet  and  dry,  rough  and  smooth, 
and  we  have  had  no  seasickness,  at  least  next  to  none, 
as  you  may  believe  when  I  tell  you  that  we  have  all  been 
at  every  meal  and  done  them  ample  justice,  and  ample 
,  meals  they  are.  There  are  many  agreeable  people  on 
board,  among  them  some  of  our  very  old  friends,  like 
the  Tuckermans  of  New  York,  the  Fays  of  Brooklyn, 
and  some  new  ones,  of  whom  are  Prof.  Paine  &  his  wife 
of  Cambridge.  Mr.  P.  proved  to  be  an  old  acquaintance 
,  from  Salem,  tho'  somewhat  hard  to  identify  at  first.  We 
expect  to  land  at  Liverpool  tomorrow,  and  go  to  London 
by  way  of  Chester,  and  Leamington,  stopping  at  the 
latter  place  a  day  or  two  to  see  Stratford,  Warwick,  etc., 
so  that  we  shall  not  reach  London  before  Wednesday 
night. 

"RuIufPs  enjoyment  of  the  voyage  has  been  quite 
indescribable,  and  it  has  been  a  great  pleasure  to  watch 
him.  He  has  proved  to  be  a  universal  favorite,  especially 
among  the  gentlemen,  who  are  impressed  by  his  acute- 
ness  and  singular  powers  of  observation.    There  is  noth- 


340  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

ing  about  the  ship  that  he  hasn't  explored  and  mastere< 
and  on  all  questions  pertaining  to  nautical  affairs,  th< 
appeal  to  him  as  the  final  authority.    His  Journal  if  he 
keeps  it  up — or  as  long  as  he  keeps  it — will  afford  you 
great  entertainment.    The  labors  and  sports  of  the  sailoi 
have  afforded  him  infinite  entertainment. 

"We  do  not  intend  to  make  a  very  thorough  or  ei 
haustive  programme  for  our  journey,  or  as  if  we  wei 
not  to  come  ever  again,  but  to  take  a  general  run,  and 
cover  quite  an  extent  of  country  so  that  if  we  should  be 
so  fortunate  as  to  come  again  in  future  years  we  may 
know  exactly  what  we  want  to  do.  In  fact,  ocean 
travelling  is  now  reduced  so  nearly  to  perfection,  that 
almost  any  one  may  hope  to  come.  Judge  Swayne  of 
the  Supreme  Court  at  Washington,  and  his  wife,  both 
of  whom  are  quite  as  old  as  you,  are  on  board  and  having 

J.  H.  C." 


evidently  a  splendid  time.  *  *  * 


"Dear  Mother,  "London«  JuIy  2Ist  l879" 

"We  have  been  nearly  two  weeks  in  London  and  thoug] 
it  has  positively  rained  every  day,  and  the  sun  has  only 
shone  a  few  hours  in  the  aggregate,  we  have  enjoyed 
every  minute.  While  the  reports  from  home  have  been 
of  terrible  heats  and  tornadoes  we  have  worn  overcoats 
and  carried  umbrellas  everywhere,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
and  slept  under  many  blankets.  The  immensity  of  Lon- 
don is  perfectly  amazing  even  for  a  New  Yorker.  Be- 
sides seeing  the  great  historical  sights,  which  everybody 
sees,  we  have  been  most  hospitably  entertained  among 
the  most  delightful  people.  Last  night,  for  instance,  we 
dined  at  Lord  Frederick  Cavendish's,  who  is  a  son  ol 
the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  and  there  we  met  the  greal 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  341 

liberal  leaders,  John  Bright  and  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  Sir 
Henry  James  and  Mr.  Herschel,  two  of  the  leading  lawyers 
of  the  day.  And  on  Wednesday  we  attended  a  garden 
party  at  Holland  House,  where  all  of  the  Royal  Family 
who  ever  appear  were  among  the  guests  and  of  course, 
none  but  very  considerable  swells  were  received.  I  con- 
sidered the  Princess  of  Wales  quite  worthy  of  all  the 
praises  that  have  been  lavished  upon  her  beauty,  for 
which  she  is  very  conspicuous  among  the  English  women. 
This  afternoon  again  we  are  to  take  tea  at  Devonshire 
House,  and  on  Friday  to  dine  with  Mr.  Forster  who  is 
a  great  parliamentary  leader.  So  that  we  have  the  op- 
portunity of  seeing  London  on  its  best  side,  except  al- 
ways for  the  weather,  which  Londoners  protest  is  the 
worst  that  has  ever  been  known  even  in  this  land  of  water- 
proof &  umbrellas. 

"Mr.  Thomas  Hughes,  the  famous  author  of  'Tom 
Brown  at  Oxford  and  at  Rugby/  called  to  see  us  and 
took  me  to  the  Cosmopolitan  Club,  where  I  saw  many 
of  the  prominent  men  here. 

"Of  the  sights  that  we  have  yet  seen  Westminster 
Abbey  and  the  Old  Westminster  Hall  have  been  the 
most  enjoyable,  though  we  have  not  yet  seen  the  Tower, 
which  I  have  always  looked  upon  as  the  most  important 
thing  to  see  on  English  soil.  The  Abbey  is  in  itself  al- 
most a  complete  history  of  England.  We  have  been  to 
the  House  of  Lords,  where  Lord  Granville  escorted  Carrie 
&  Miss  Derby  into  the  Peeresses'  Gallery,  and  Ruly  and 
I  found  a  place  on  the  steps  of  the  throne;  and  to  the 
House  of  Commons  where  Mr.  Bright  was  equally  kind 
to  find  us  seats  and  show  us  the  celebrities.  But  much 
as  we  have  been  delighted  with  London  we  are  not  for- 
getting the  main  objects  of  our  journey,  and  on  Satur- 


342  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

day  we  intend  to  start  for  Holland,  and  Belgium  and 
from  there  up  the  Rhine  to  Switzerland.  We  had  a  visit 
the  other  day  from  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Longfellow  who  sail  for 
home  in  August.  She  is  a  little  older  but  as  pretty  as 
ever,  and  a  really  very  handsome  woman. 

"Yesterday  we  got  our  first  letters  from  home,  re- 
porting all  the  children  well  and  happy  at  Stockbridge, 

J.  H.  C." 


which  was  a  great  comfort.  *  *  * 


"Dear  Mother,  "Paris,  15  Sept.  1879. 

"  *  *  *  ^ye  fmcj  ourseIves  in  time  here  to  see  many 
marks  of  the  terrible  ravages  of  the  Commune  of  1871 
which  are  fast  being  removed.  The  Palace  of  the  Tuileries 
which  is  in  view  from  our  windows  is  a  melancholy  ruin, 
and  hardly  affords  one  an  idea  of  what  its  glories  must 
once  have  been.  The  present  idea  is  to  remove  it  en- 
tirely. The  Hotel  de  Ville  and  the  Palais  de  Justice  which 
were  also — the  one  destroyed  and  the  other  greatly 
damaged — are  rapidly  being  rebuilt.  It  seems  to  have 
been  the  purpose  of  those  miscreants  to  destroy  every- 
thing that  was  grand  and  beautiful  in  this  splendid  city, 
but  fortunately  they  did  not  have  time.  A  large  party 
of  the  amnestied  Communists  arrived  yesterday  from 
the  place  of  their  long  exile,  and  though  received  at  the 
station  by  some  twenty  thousand  curious  spectators 
there  was  no  disturbance  and  they  seem  to  be  of  no  ac 
count  whatever.  *  *  *  " 

To  His  Wife 

"Washington,  Oct.   30,    1879. 
«  *  *  *     j  have  just  been  dining  at  the  hotel  in  com- 
pany, with  General  Devens,  the  Attorney  General  and 


IN  THE  SEVENTIES  343 

'Old  Probabilities '  Genl.  Myer.  Instead  of  looking  like 
old  Father  Time,  as  you  would  expect,  the  last  named 
gentleman  is  much  younger  than  I,  and  yet  to  some  eyes 
I  must  appear  quite  juvenile,  for  when  Mr.  Evarts  and 
I  called  together  this  afternoon  upon  Judge  and  Mrs. 
Swayne,  the  servant  went  up  and  told  the  Judge  that 
Mr.  Evarts  and  his  son  were  down  stairs." 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  EIGHTIES 


Garfield's  assassination — cesnola  libel  suit — attitude  to- 
wards CASES — FAMILY  GOSSIP  FROM  STOCKBRIDGE — THE  BUTLER 
COMMENCEMENT — ANOTHER  COMMENCEMENT  DINNER — DEVOTION 
TO  HARVARD — HARVARD  CLUB  DINNER — DEATH  OF  RULUFF  CHOAT 
— WINANS  CASE — HARD  BESET — HOYT  CASE — BREARLEY  SCHOOL 
BANQUE  CASE — STARTING  A  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY  IN  BROOKLYN— 
THE  NEW  ENGLAND  DINNERS — ALPHA  DELTA  PHI  REUNION — BURDEN 
CASE 


- 


; 


To  His  Wife 

"Tuesday  evening,  Jan'y.  1880. 
"  *  *  *  Washington  is  very  wintry — the  snow  being 
piled  up  in  the  streets  nearly  as  high  as  in  New  York 
The  Riggs's  is  very  full  of  strangers.  The  Woman* 
Rights  Convention  is  in  session,  and  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  breakfasting  with  Mrs.  Cady  Stanton  and  Susan  B. 
Anthony  at  the  next  table.  Josh.  Billings  was  on  the 
other  side  of  me.  He  is  lecturing  here,  and  last  night 
I  went  to  hear  him.  The  first  fifteen  minutes  he  was 
very  amusing — the  next  fifteen  very  dull,  and  the  I 
half  hour  he  was  sound  asleep.  He  wears  his  hair  abou 
a  foot  long,  bites  his  bread,  and  has  all  the  airs  of  a  genuin 
Yankee.  *  *  *  " 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  July  8,  1880. 
"  *  *  *    Creber  has  come  out  of  the  hospital,  and  has 
gone  'to  Hengland  to  fetch  Mother.'    He  sailed  yester- 
day by  the  National  Line,  and  like  all  the  rest  of  the 

344 


THE  EIGHTIES  345 

world  of  fashion  expects  to  return  in  the  Autumn.  He 
said  you  owed  him  six  dollars,  so  I  paid  him  that  and 
lent  him  four  more,  and  gave  him  five  more  and  sent 
him  on  his  way  rejoicing.  *  *  * 

"It  seems  that  Dr.  Draper  was  in  the  very  bow  of 
the  burnt  Seawanhaka,  and  stayed  on  board  until  she 
touched  land,  and  until  one  of  his  ears  was  burned  and 
then  jumped  off  into  shallow  water  and  helped  to  rescue 
S.  L.  M.  Barlow. 

"Your  friend  Dr.  Tanner  continues  his  fast  for  the 
benefit  of  science,  and  if  you  were  here  I  should  invest 
a  half  dollar  in  taking  you  to  see  him — but  alone  I  do 
not  care  about  it.  *  *  *  " 

To  the  Same 

"Riggs  House,  Washington,  1880. 
"  *  *  *  How  do  you  like  Mr.  Gladstone's  letter?  It 
is  certainly  the  most  extraordinary  one  on  record  for  a 
Prime  Minister  of  England.  Pm  afraid  it  will  damage 
him  very  much  with  the  English  people,  who  like  humble 
pie  least  of  all  foods.  *  *  *  T    H    P " 

The  letter,  presumably,  in  which  he  said  that  he  had 
been  mistaken  in  his  opinions  and  attitude  anent  the 
Civil  War  in  the  United  States. 

"Richmond,  Va.  27  Oct.   1880. 

II    P.  M. 

"Dear  Georgie: — I  have  just  arrived  at  Richmond 
after  twelve  hours  steady  riding  in  the  cars.  Mr.  Evarts 
came  along  as  far  as  Washington,  where  we  took  a  car- 
riage and  drove  to  Welcker's  for  dinner  having  just  an 


346  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


i 


hour  before  the  train  started  for  Richmond.  The  dinner 
was  so  good,  and  we  lingered  over  it  so  long,  that  we 
came  near  being  left,  but  galloped  to  the  depot  just  in 
time  to  jump  on  to  the  last  car  of  the  train  already  in 
motion.  But  of  course  you  must  never  do  that  you  know. 
From  Washington  we  played  whist  nearly  all  the  way 
and  so  speeded  the  time  very  much. 

"  Richmond  seems  to  be  full  of  people  attending  the 
State  Fair,  where  I  expect  to  see  some  fine  horses.    The 
Hotel  is  crowded,  and  a  band  of  music  is  playing  in  th 
corridor  that  connects  the  two  houses — a  bridge  buil 
right  across  the  street,  as  Ruly  will  remember. 

"I  am  going  right  to  bed  after  mailing  this  letter,  but 
I  wanted  to  remind  you  of  your  promise  to  be  the  best 
of  boys  during  my  absence,  to  do  your  very  best  with 
your  lessons,  and  to  do  everything  just  as  Mama  says, 
so  as  to  save  her  all  the  trouble  you  can. 

"With  love  to  everybody, 

Your  dear  Papa,  J.  H.  C.5 

To  His  Wife  in  Stockbridge 

"52  Wall  St.,  24  June  1881 
"I  have  just  finished  my  last  New  York  case,  anc 

am  quite  elated  at  the  prospect  of  a  release  from  my 

long  labors.  *  *  * 

"If  that  Phi  Beta  affair  were  only  off  my  hands 

should  feel  almost  happy.  , 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  July  6,  1881 

"  *  *  *    At  the  depot  Miss  Clara  Field  showed  me  a 

despatch  from  her  uncle  in  Washington  which  was  very 


THE  EIGHTIES  347 

discouraging  about  the  President,  but  the  accounts  here 
are  of  the  most  hopeful  character.  Up  to  half  past 
seven  this  evening,  there  is  no  return  of  the  bad  symp- 
toms which  have  hitherto  appeared  in  the  evening,  and 
he  has  been  steadily  gaining  ground  all  day.  There  is 
a  strong  feeling  now  that  he  will  recover.  *  *  * 

"It  is  now  ten  o'clock  and  I  have  been  waiting  here 
to  get  the  last  evening  bulletin  from  Washington  but 
it  has  not  yet  arrived.  *  *  *  „ 


(July  11.)  "  *  *  *  I  don't  feel  very  sanguine  about 
the  President — it  seems  to  be  such  a  miracle  if  he  is  to 
get  well.  But  perhaps  in  the  bracing  air  of  Berkshire 
one  would  take  a  brighter  view.  *  *  *  " 

President  Garfield  was  shot  July  2,  1 881,  in  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Station  at  Washington,  as  he  was  taking  a  train 
to  Williamstown,  and  died  September  19. 

To  the  Same 

"Rochester,  July  13,  1881. 
Very  early  in  the  morning. 
"I  arrived  here  quite  comfortably  at  ten  o'clock  yes- 
terday, and  now  at  six  in  the  morning  I  am  up  and  pack- 
ing for  Geneseo  which  is  thirty  miles  from  here.  It  is 
thoroughly  summer  here,  and  as  I  drove  about  the  city 
last  evening  everybody  seemed  to  be  living  on  their  door 
steps.  I  visited  the  Genesee  Falls,  where  Sam  Patch 
made  his  famous  leap  and  where  a  few  years  ago  a  load 
of  cattle  went  over,  and  some  of  them  went  immediately 
grazing  on  the  Island  below.    In  Europe  such  a  fall  would 


348  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


be  treated  as  a  great  wonder  but  this  is  too  near  Niagara 
to  attract  much  attention. 

"Last  night,  too,  I  went  to  church  and  as  this  is  a  great 
Baptist  Community  I  saw  a  queer  sight — total  immer- 
sion. They  had  a  great  marble  basin,  big  enough  to  hold 
the  minister  and  his  victim,  who  waded  in  together,  and 
at  the  word,  in  she  went  all  over,  with  a  splash.  I  sup- 
pose it  is  in  imitation  of  Jesus  in  the  River  Jordan. 

"  I  hope  to  get  through  at  Geneseo  today,  but  as  three 
lawyers  have  come  all  the  way  here  upon  the  other  side 
they  may  want  to  talk  more  than  a  day. 

"I  imagine  you  quite  dull  and  lonely  after  Ruly's  de 
parture." 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  21  Sept.  1881. 
"Nothing  is  thought  of  or  talked  of  here  but  the  death 
of  the  President,  and  at  this  moment  I  am  presiding  at 
a  meeting  of  the  Union  League  Club  to  take  action  on 
that  account.  I  was  very  glad  to  preside  in  the  absence 
of  Mr.  Fish  who  is  sick  at  Saratoga,  and  so  I  escaped 
the  necessity  of  making  a  speech.  *  *  *        1    u   C" 


To  the  Same 


id  I 


(Wednesday  evening.)     "  *  *  *    Mr.  Roosevelt  an 
are  going  to  dine  together  at  the  Club  this  evening  and 
thence  to  the  meeting.    By  the  way,  did  I  tell  you  that 
Mrs.  R.  who  is  very  charming  and  sensible,  expressed  a 
desire  to  call  upon  you  on  her  return  to  New  York? 
am  sure  you  will  like  them  both.  *  *  *  " 

The  Cesnola  case,  which  started  in  October,  1882, 
lasted  well  into  the  next  year  and  made  a  great  clatter. 
General  di  Cesnola  discovered  the  Temple  of  Golgoi  in 


THE   EIGHTIES  349 

1870  in  Cyprus  and  got  out  of  it  a  lot  of  antiquities  which 
in  the  course  of  time  he  sold  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum 
of  Art.  When  the  collection  became  available  for  ex- 
amination, charge  was  made  by  Mr.  Gaston.  Feuardent 
that  the  statues  and  other  articles  that  composed  it  had 
been  so  much  restored  and  doctored  that  they  were  of 
little  or  no  value  as  antiquities.  He  declared  in  effect 
that  General  di  Cesnola  had  put  over  a  fraud  on  the  Mu- 
seum. In  this  contention  he  was  supported  by  Clarence 
Cook,  art  critic  of  the  New  York  Tribune.  General  di 
Cesnola  came  to  the  defense  of  his  collection  with  indig- 
nation and  burning  words  not  always  measured;  so  it 
soon  fell  out  that  Feuardent  sued  him  for  libel.  The 
plaintiff's  lawyer  was  Francis  N.  Bangs,  with  Mr.  Oakley 
to  help  him.  Mr.  Choate,  a  trustee  of  the  Museum, 
was  counsel  for  the  defense  with  Mr.  Stickney  and  Allen 
W.  Evarts  as  his  associates.  Opening  his  argument  for 
the  defense  on  January  29,  1883,  Mr.  Choate  described 
the  course  of  the  case,  and  the  Tribune  of  the  following 
morning  tells  about  it: 

*  *  *  The  United  States  District  Court  room  was 
well  filled  yesterday  when  Mr.  Choate  began  his  argu- 
ment for  the  defense  in  the  Feuardent-di  Cesnola  case. 
The  space  to  the  left  of  the  Judge  was  crowded  with  ladies. 
The  statues  whose  integrity  has  been  called  into  question 
were  picturesquely  grouped  about  the  tables  in  the  court- 
room and  the  larger  ones  loomed  up  in  the  background 
against  the  windows.  Many  of  the  trustees  of  the  Mu- 
seum were  present.  Mr.  Choate  began  his  address  at 
half  past  one,  and  the  crowd  in  the  court-room  grew 
larger  as  he  proceeded.    He  said: 

u  'Gentlemen  of  the  Jury:    I  want  to  thank  you  in 
the  first  place  for  your  inexhaustible  patience.     When 


350  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

we  started  in  here  the  sunny  days  of  October  were  still 
with  us,  and  now  it  is  the  dead  of  winter.  If  we  had  stayed 
here  a  little  longer  we  should  have  all  become  antiquities. 
I  know  that  I  have  felt,  as  I  sat  here,  the  corroding  sur- 
face of  antiquity  stealing  over  me  and  I  have  thought  at 
times  that  the  incrustations  we  have  heard  discussed 
were  slowly  covering  His  Honor  and  yourselves,  so  that 
in  a  short  time  we  would  have  been  worthy  of  gathering 
into  the  Museum.  The  trustees  would,  I  am  sure,  have 
purchased  us  at  our  own  price.  We  would  have  made 
a  stately  gathering  in  those  silent  halls,  headed  by  His 
Honor  and  the  rear  brought  up  by  Mr.  Colfax  (the  court 
officer)  who  has  ministered  to  our  comforts  here.  Our 
only  regret  would  be  that  we  should  have  to  part  com- 
pany with  the  learned  opponent  Mr.  Bangs  whom  no 
age  can  deprive  of  that  fire  whose  possession  would  mak< 
him  unworthy  the  association. 

"  'I  do  not  claim  the  merit  of  prolonging  this  trial. 
The  learned  junior  counsel  on  the  other  side  Mr.  Oakley 
promised  it  would  occupy  four  days.  The  achievement 
of  lengthening  that  into  ninety  belongs  to  the  learned 
counsel  on  the  other  side,  whose  insatiable  passion  for 
asking  questions  has  dethroned  woman  from  a  long- 
recognized  position.  He  learned  that  there  were  35,55; 
objects  in  the  Cesnola  collection  and  he  has  asked  a  ques- 
tion for  each  one,  expecting  to  find  a  fraud  hidden  about 
each  one,  and  backing  up  his  questions  with  unlimited 
argument.  Outside  of  this  he  has  asked  about  every- 
thing else  under  the  sun.  He  has  investigated  every  act 
of  General  di  Cesnola  from  the  hour  of  his  landing  here, 
a  penniless  stranger,  until  the  hour  of  his  leaving  the 
stand.  He  hunted  up  his  marriage  certificate,  and  was^ 
proceeding  to  inquire  about  the  bridal  journey  when 
the  court  cried  halt. 


1. 


THE  EIGHTIES  351 

'Your  verdict  is  of  overwhelming  importance  to 
General  di  Cesnola.  It  involves  everything  he  holds 
dear,  his  position,  his  future,  his  reputation  at  home  and 
abroad,  on  which  no  breath  had  ever  rested  until  The 
Art  Amateur  article  attacked  it  in  1880.  He  was  the  for- 
tunate discoverer  of  antiquities  whose  importance  has 
been  described  by  Newton  and  other  great  exponents 
of  archaeological  lore  as  unparalleled  in  value,  and  has 
been  classed  with  Schliemann.  And  now  by  a  continued 
series  of  attacks  which  have  culminated  in  this  trial  this 
plaintiff  has  brought  his  character  into  question.  Here 
he  has  had  every  opportunity  to  repeat  every  charge 
and  adduce  every  proof.  And  what  are  the  charges? 
They  are  so  mean  and  so  monstrous  that  no  intelligent 
man  could  commit  them.  This  collection  has  no  value 
except  as  a  collection  of  antiquities,  and  yet  he  is  rep- 
resented as  studiously  seeking  to  destroy  the  only  ele- 
ment of  value  in  them.  I  can  only  repeat  my  learned 
associate's  simile:  "Who  ever  heard  of  anybody  raising 
checks  downward  ?"  Now  during  four  years  he  has  been 
subject  to  a  vehement  persecution.  Not  a  conspiracy, 
but  a  single-handed  persecution.  At  one  time  the  plaintiff 
had  an  associate,  who  lent  his  name  to  some  of  these 
serious  charges,  but  he  has  vanished  from  the  scene.  The 
attacks  began  in  1879,  through  personal  and  private 
letters.  They  were  made  by  a  man  who  knew  the  col- 
lection by  heart.  He  began  by  a  single  charge.  He  fol- 
lowed it  up  by  its  repetition,  in  July,  1880,  in  print 
and  since  then  he  has  distributed  his  diatribes  among 
such  papers  as  would  devote  a  column  or  a  line  to  the 
defamation  of  the  defendant.  And  he  has  prosecuted 
this  method  of  attack  ever  since,  and  within  a  week 
has  had  the  indecency  to  renew  these  newspaper  publi- 
cations.' " 


352  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

That  is  an  example  of  the  way  Mr.  Choate  approachec 
a  subject.     He  went  through  life  laughing  at  a  foolisl 
world.    His  cases  were  serious  to  him  in  so  much  as  the^ 
involved  responsibility.       If  he  accepted  a  trust  he  w* 
faithful  to  it.     He  toiled  enormously  when  labor  was  ne< 
essary.     When  he  made  fun  it  was  in  the  interest  of  hi 
own  case  and  his  own  client;  but  cases  of  law,  thougl 
serious,  seemed  very  seldom  to  be  solemn  to  him.     He 
recognized  their  importance  in  money  and  in  the  repu- 
tation of  the  people  engaged,  but  in  the  back  of  his  head 
he  seemed  to  measure  all  of  them  by  a  standard  outside 
of  all  those  things.     If  he  was  going  to  be  solemn  it  must 
be  over  something  bigger  than  ordinary.     He  was  fairly 
solemn  about  the  income-tax  case,  but  he  seemed  to  con- 
sider that  that  involved  principles  that  went  to  the  root 
of  social  well-being. 

Of  course  in  such  a  case  as  this  about  the  Cesnofc 
antiquities,  Mr.  Choate  gave  more  than  an  ordinarily 
good  entertainment.  There  was  one  particularly  famous 
allusion  that  came  along  in  the  course  of  his  remarks: 

"Who  has  been  our  strongest  witness  here?    Not  Gen 
eral  di  Cesnola,  not  Professor  Braman,  not  Mr.  Newton, 
but  the  plaintiff  himself.     In  The  Art  Amateur  articl 
he  says  that  the  Cesnola  Collection  is  a  valuable  on 
to  the  history  of  art.    In  the  Cook  pamphlet  he  declares 
that  there  is  not  one  genuine  monument  of  antiquity 
in  it.     Professor  Hall  says  he  never  in  his  journeys  me 
with  one  scholar  who  called  its  value  into  question.    Wh; 
did  they  not  meet  this  testimony?    Where  was  Clarence 
Cook?     Ah,  where  was  the  false  and  fleeting  but  not 
quite  perjured  Clarence?     Why   did   not   the  plaintiff 
force  him  on  the  stand  ?    Cook  knew  as  well  as  Feuarden 
that  the  pamphlet  was  false.' * 


; 

:e 
>t 
ff 


THE  EIGHTIES  353 

"False  and  fleeting  but  not  quite  perjured  Clarence" 
convulsed  society. 
Mr.  Choate  won  the  case  for  General  di  Cesnola. 

"52  Wall  St. 

"Dear  George:-  Monday'  JuIy  IOth  ^ 

*  *  *  I  have  just  received  your  semi-annual  re- 
port, which  gives  you  an  average  of  seventy-seven  and 
a  half,  which  next  year  I  shall  expect  you  to  raise  at  least 
to  eighty-seven  and  a  half.  p        „ 

To  the  Same 

"Stockbridge,  21  July  '82. 

"I  suppose  you  would  like  to  know  just  what  every- 
body in  the  family  is  doing  at  this  moment  while  I  am 
writing  to  you.  Well,  Jo  is  chasing  Grimalkin  through 
the  orchard,  Mabel  is  practising,  Effie  gathering  flowers 
in  the  garden,  Ruluff  who  has  got  up  late  finishing  his 
breakfast,  Carl  and  George  are  getting  ready  for  tennis, 
and  Mama  is  having  her  daily  chat  with  the  butcher. 
The  great  event  of  the  week  has  been  Jo's  discovery  that 
he  could  swim  alone,  without  any  life  preserver,  an 
achievement  of  which  he  is  very  proud,  as  you  may  imag- 
ine. It  happened  yesterday  at  the  Lake,  when  he  took 
off  his  life  preserver,  and  struck  out  for  himself,  and  the 
first  thing  we  all  knew  he  was  swimming  quite  well.  Don't 
you  think  that  is  a  good  deal  for  a  boy  of  six  years  old 
to  do? 

" There  is  great  excitement  just  now  on  the  subject 
of  Bicycles.  The  whole  village  is  divided  between  the 
Bicyclists  and  the  Anti-Bicyclists  and  I  strongly  suspect 
that  your  residence  here  this  summer  has  had  something 


354  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

to  do  with  it.  The  question  is  whether  the  machin 
shall  any  longer  be  permitted  to  run  on  the  sidewalks 
It  seems  that  besides  Ruly's  mishap  in  running  into  Mrs 
Doane's  baby  carriage,  EHery  Sedgwick,  that  giant  per 
former  on  the  wheel,  came  into  collision  with  Professo 
Boyesen's  back  and  made  a  large  dent  in  the  same,  an 
Prof.  Rood  has  been  several  times  startled  by  riders  com 
ing  up  suddenly  behind  him  and  blowing  whistles  an 
ringing  bells  so  that  he  had  to  skip  quicker  than  suite 
his  dignity,  and  Mr.  Gourlie  has  had  at  least  one  bo; 
come  up  silently  behind  him,  and  shout  'Hi!  Johnny 
Get  out  the  way  or  I'll  run  over  you  V  (Do  you  kno 
who  that  was?)  The  result  has  been  that  they  hav 
presented  to  the  Selectmen  a  petition  signed  by  almos 
all  the  swells  asking  them  to  prevent  the  use  of  Bicycles 
on  the  sidewalk.  But  Aleck  Sedgwick  is  now  hard  a1 
work  circulating  a  counter  petition  prepared  by  his  father 
asking  the  Selectmen  not  to  grant  the  first  petition,  bu1 
to  let  the  machines  run,  and  I  have  already  signed  it. 
Aleck  says  he  is  going  to  present  it  at  every  house  in  the 
village,  and  if  he  gets  twenty  signatures,  as  doubtless 
he  will,  the  authorities  will  do  nothing  about  it,  and  th 
boys  will  still  have  their  rights. 

"Cousin  Jeannette  goes  down  to  New  York  today,  I 
believe,  to  decide  where  and  how  they  shall  live  next 
winter.    Getting  married  seems  to  have  had  an  excellent 
effect  on  Dr.  De  Renne.    He  is  now  hard  at  work  i] 
Bellevue  Hospital  in  spite  of  the  summer  heat  and  that  h 
has  to  leave  his  bride  in  the  country,  and  means  to  ge 
on  in  his  profession,  in  the  only  way  he  can,  by  hard  work, 
and  sacrificing  everything  else  to  it.     That  is  the  only 
way  any  man  ever  got  on  in  any  business,  *  *  * 

Papa." 


THE   EIGHTIES  355 

(July  24.)  "  *  *  *  I  told  you  in  my  last  letter  about 
Aleck  Sedgwick's  contest  with  Mr.  Rood  about  the 
bicycles.  Aleck  has  got  the  best  of  the  Professor.  He 
got  his  counter  petition  to  the  Selectmen  signed  by  thirty- 
five  inhabitants,  five  more  than  had  signed  the  profes- 
sors, and  that  will  leave  the  matter  just  where  it  was 
before  they  stirred  in  it  at  all.  *  *  *  „ 

To  His  Wife 

"New  York,  2  Octr.  1882. 
"  *  *  *  When  we  got  out  of  the  cars  at  Bay  Shore 
on  Saturday  evening,  a  grave  looking  old  gentleman 
approached  me  and  taking  me  by  the  elbow,  said  'Is 
this  the  clergyman  for  tomorrow?'  So  you  see  in  ap- 
pearance I  must  have  gained  in  grace.  'NO* — said  I, 
*  but  if  you  are  very  hard  up,  I  will  do  my  best  to  serve 
you' — whereupon  he  dropped  my  elbow,  and  slid  away 
quite  irreverently  as  I  thought.  *  *  *  " 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  24  June  1883. 
"  *  *  *  I  spent  the  whole  day  at  home  getting  ready 
for  Commencement,  and  am  happy  to  say  that  the  job 
is  done.  I  have  thought  it  all  out,  and  nothing  that  can 
happen  there  can  possibly  disconcert  me.  The  only 
thing  now  is  to  arrange  my  Court  cases  so  that  I  can  be 
free  from  embarrassment  on  that  ground.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  G" 

This  commencement  that  he  spent  the  day  getting 
ready  for  was  the  great  Butler  commencement  at  Har- 
vard College,  and  his  part  in  it  was  one  of  the  famous 


356  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

parts  that  he  played.  It  is  one  of  the  official  duties  ol 
the  Governor  of  Massachusetts  to  attend  commencement 
at  Harvard  College.  He  goes  out  there  with  much  pom] 
and  panoply,  attended  by  the  Boston  Lancers  on  horse- 
back. It  had  come  to  be  the  practice  to  give  the  Governor 
of  Massachusetts  the  degree  of  LL.D.  at  commence- 
ment unless  he  had  it  already,  but  when  General  Butler 
was  elected  governor  there  came  a  great  embarrass- 
ment, for  Butler  was  by  no  means  well  considered  in  Har- 
vard councils.  Being  governor  he  had  to  come  to  com- 
mencement, but  there  was  no  law  that  they  should  give 
him  an  honorary  degree,  and  the  overseers  and  the  cor- 
poration concluded  not  to  do  so.  George  Frisbie  Hoare, 
of  Worcester,  an  illustrious  citizen,  was  president  of  th< 
Alumni.  It  was  his  natural  duty  as  occupant  of  thai 
office  to  look  after  the  governor;  but  his  soul  revolted. 
He  tells  in  his  autobiography  what  the  situation  was 
he  saw  it,  and  what  he  did  about  it.    To  wit: 

"It  happened  that  the  year  when  General  Butler  w 
Governor  I  was  elected  President  of  the  Harvard  Alumni 
Association.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  College  to  invite 
the  Governor  to  the  dinner  of  the  Alumni  on  Commence- 
ment day  as  the  guest  of  the  University  and  to  confer 
upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  It  would  have 
been  my  duty  to  preside  at  the  dinner  and  to  walk  with 
him  at  the  head  of  the  procession,  to  have  him  seated 
by  my  side  at  the  table,  and  to  extend  to  him  the  cour- 
tesies of  the  University.  I  hardly  knew  what  I  ought 
to  do.  I  must  either  walk  with  him  and  sit  by  his  side 
in  silence  or  with  a  formal  and  constrained  courtesy  which 
would  in  itself  be  almost  an  affront,  or  on  the  other  hand, 
I  must  take  his  hand,  salute  him  with  cordiality  as  be- 


i 


THE  EIGHTIES  357 

comes  a  host  on  a  great  occasion  in  dealing  with  a  dis- 
tinguished guest,  and  converse  with  him  as  I  should  have 
conversed  with  other  persons  occupying  his  high  place. 
It  did  not  seem  to  me  that  I  ought  to  do  either,  espe- 
cially in  the  case  of  a  man  whose  offence  had  not  been 
merely  against  me,  but  who  had  made  a  gross  and  un- 
founded attack  upon  the  memory  of  my  father,  and  of 
whose  personal  and  public  character  I  entertained  the 
opinion  I  had  so  often  publicly  expressed.  Accordingly 
I  declined  to  accept  the  office  of  President." 

Mr.  Choate  being  summoned  as  a  resourceful  person 
practised  in  the  use  of  language,  to  come  into  this  dif- 
ficult situation,  accepted  the  call.  Of  course,  there  was 
immense  curiosity  to  see  how  he  would  deal  with  it.  The 
first  speaker  at  the  Alumni  Dinner  is  the  president  of 
the  Alumni,  whose  place  Mr.  Choate  occupied.  What 
he  said  in  opening  the  oratorical  part  of  the  dinner  was 
reported  in  the  papers  as  follows: 

"Brethren  of  the  Alumni: — 

"I  hardly  know  how  to  begin.  My  head  swims  when 
I  look  down  from  the  giddy  and  somewhat  dangerous 
elevation  to  which  you  have  unwittingly  raised  me.  Here 
have  I  been  seated  for  the  last  hour  between  the  two 
horns  of  a  veritable  dilemma.  On  the  one  side  the  presi- 
dent of  the  university,  on  the  other  his  excellency  the 
Governor  of  Massachusetts,  whom  today  we  welcome 
to  the  hospitalities  of  Harvard.  As  to  our  worthy  presi- 
dent— you  all  know  him — you  know  how  he  strikes — 
always  from  the  shoulder — a  true  Harvard  athlete,  and 
how  idle  it  is  for  any  ordinary  alumnus  to  contend  with 
him.    And  as  to  his  excellency,  a  long  professional  ob- 


358  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

servation  and  some  experience  of  him  have  taught  m( 

that  he,  too,  like  the  president,  is  a  safe  man  to  Ie1 

alone — 

"'Experto  credite, 
Quantus  in  clypeum  assurgat,  quo  turbine  torqueat  hastam.' 

"Well,  I  assure  you,  I  have  found  a  most  safe  an 
comfortable  seat.    I  have  got  along  splendidly  with  both 
by  agreeing  exactly  to  everything  that  each  of  them  h 
said.     For  you  know  the  horns  of  a  dilemma,  howeve 
perilous  they  may  be  to  their  victims,  never  can  com 
in  conflict  with  each  other.     And  so,  directly  betwee 
them,  if  you  take  care  to  hold  on,  as  I  have  done,  tigh 
to  each,  you  are  sure  to  find  safety  and  repose.    'Medi 
tutissimus  ibis.9    I  accept  it  as  a  happy  omen — prophetic, 
let  us  hope,  of  that  peace  and  harmony  which  shall  gover 
this  meeting  to  its  close.    And  now,  brethren,  I  am  at  a 
loss  whether  to  thank  you  or  not  for  the  honor  you  have 
done  me  in  calling  me  to  preside  on  this  occasion,  for  it 
was  only  when  the  alumni  of  Harvard  had  lost  their  head 
that  they  invited  me  to  supply  its  place.     I  sincerely 
regret  the  absence  from  his  chair  today  of  that  distin- 
guished gentleman  who  would  have  occupied  it,  in  defer- 
ence to  your  wishes,   expressed  by  your  ballots.     His 
character,  his  eloquence,  and  his  life-long  loyalty  to  Har- 
vard would  have  graced  and  adorned  the  occasion,  and 
we  all  lament  his  absence.    But,  though  the  association 
of  the  alumni  is  for  the  moment  without  a  head,  Harvard 
College  still  lives,  and  today  is  younger  and  fresher,  more 
vigorous  and  more  powerful,  than  ever  before. 

"With  the  pious  devotion  of  elder  children  we  have 
come  up  here  today  to  attend  upon  our  venerable  Alma 
Mater  in  the  hour  of  her  annual  travail,  and  gathered 


I 


THE   EIGHTIES  359 

about  her  couch  with  patient  reverence  to  witness  the 
birth  of  the  latest  addition  to  the  family — those  205  new 
pledges  of  her  never-failing  and  ever-renewing  operative 
power.  We  wish  them  Godspeed  on  that  journey  of 
life  which  they  have  today  so  auspiciously  begun.  The 
degree  conferred  upon  them  this  morning  is  an  assurance 
to  the  world  that  they  start  in  the  world  with  more  or 
less  learning — some  of  them  a  good  deal  more  and  some 
of  them  a  good  deal  less.  But  let  us  hope  that  every 
man  of  them  has  got  and  carries  away  with  him  what  is 
far  better  than  all  their  learning,  and  what  it  has  been 
our  boast  to  believe  that  Harvard  has  always  tended 
to  cultivate — an  honest  and  manly  character,  a  hatred 
of  all  shams  and  humbugs,  an  earnest  purpose  to  make 
the  most  of  themselves,  and  to  serve  their  times  as  men 
and  their  country  as  good  citizens  and  patriots. 

"I  think  we  may  well  congratulate  each  other  upon 
the  dignified  and  proud  attitude  which  Harvard  Uni- 
versity now  presents  to  the  country  and  to  the  world, 
and  that  she  has  made  more  real  and  lasting  progress 
in  the  last  fifteen  years  than  in  any  prior  period  of  her 
history — a  progress  due  in  large  measure  to  the  hopeful 
wisdom  and  the  tireless  energy  of  President  Eliot.  He 
found  here  a  local  college  whose  administration,  whose 
standard,  whose  system  had  undergone  no  radical  change 
for  generations;  and  today  he  presents  her  to  the  world 
a  great  and  national  university,  and  the  national  features 
and  relations  of  Harvard  are  now  its  most  striking  and 
attractive  ones.  No  State — not  even  Massachusetts — 
can  any  longer  appropriate  her.  No  city,  not  even  Bos- 
ton, can  any  longer  claim  her  for  its  own.  She  belongs 
henceforth  to  the  whole  country,  and  is  justly  regarded 
at  home  and  abroad  as  the  one  typical  American  uni- 


360  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

versity.  Perhaps  we  of  the  alumni  who  live  in  other 
and  distant  parts  of  the  country  can  appreciate  this 
change  better  than  those  of  you  whose  lives  are  spent 
almost  within  the  shadow  of  her  elms.  The  tide  is  setting 
towards  Harvard  across  the  whole  continent.  Her  ex- 
aminations carried  first  to  New  York,  and  then  to  Cincin- 
nati, and  then  to  Chicago,  and  at  last  to  the  Pacific  coast, 
have  raised  the  standard  of  education  and  the  quality 
of  the  schools  throughout  the  whole  country;  and  this 
influence  is  yearly  increasing.  And  the  diplomas  of  her 
professional  schools  now  carry  into  all  the  States  an  as- 
surance of  new  and  increased  fitness  for  the  commence- 
ment of  professional  life." 

He  went  on  with  further  tributes  to  the  success  of 
President  Eliot's  "systems  and  reforms,"  bragging  duly 
as  befitted  his  office  and  the  occasion;  he  made  an  ap- 
propriate allusion  to  athletics  and  prayerful  reference 
to  the  prospects  of  the  crew  at  New  London  the  next 
day;  he  told  all  about  the  statue  of  John  Harvard  which 
had  just  been  given  to  the  college,  and  noted  the  gifts 
of  a  bust  of  General  Bartlett  and  one  of  Emerson.  Then 
he  went  on  to  say : 

"But,  brethren,  I  know  you  are  all  impatient  to  hear 
those  you  have  come  to  hear.  You  cannot  wait  any 
longer,  I  am  sure,  to  hear  from  our  excellent  president 
his  annual  message  of  comfort  and  distress.  He  will 
tell  you  all  that  the  college  in  the  last  year  has  done  for 
you,  and  all  that  you  in  return  in  the  year  to  come  are 
expected  to  do  for  the  college.  It  will  also  be  your 
privilege  to  hear  from  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  as 
represented  in  the  person  of  his  excellency  the  Governor, 


THE  EIGHTIES  361 

who  has  come  here  today  by  the  invitation  of  the  presi- 
dent and  fellows,  which  he  accepted  in  deference  to  an 
ancient  custom  not  easily  to  be  broken.  You  will  re- 
member, gentlemen,  that  intimate  and  honorable  alliance 
that  has  existed  between  the  college  and  the  state  for 
now  nearly  two  centuries,  out  of  tender  regard  for  which 
tradition  assures  us  that  every  commencement,  begin- 
ning with  that  of  1642,  has  been  graced  by  the  presence 
of  the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth.  And  for  one, 
I  hope  the  day  may  be  far,  very  far,  distant  when  the 
Governor  of  Massachusetts  shall  fail  to  be  welcomed 
on  commencement  day  within  the  walls  of  Harvard. 
In  the  name  of  Massachusetts,  we  greet  him,  remem- 
bering, as  we  may  fitly  remember  in  this  place  sacred 
to  heroic  deeds,  that  it  was  he  who,  at  the  call  of  Andrew, 
led  the  advanced  guard  of  Massachusetts,  in  which  cer- 
tain sons  of  Harvard  were  a  part,  to  the  rescue  and  the 
relief  of  the  besieged  capital;  that  Lincoln  set  his  seal 
upon  that  service  by  commissioning  their  commander 
as  a  major  general  of  the  United  States;  and  that  it  did 
not  need  that  diploma  to  prove  that  he  bore  and  they 
followed  to  the  front  the  ancient  standard  of  Massa- 
chusetts, in  the  spirit  of  Sidney's  motto,  which  the  State 
has  made  its  own — Ense  petit  placidam,  sub  libertate 
quietem.  And  now,  gentlemen,  I  give  you  the  first  regular 
toast — 'Our  beloved  Alma  Mater,'  and  I  propose  with 
it  the  health  of  the  head  of  her  great  family,  President 
Eliot,  who  will  now  address  you  to  your  lasting  benefit." 

He  writes  his  wife  the  next  day  from  New  York: 

"I  got  through  very  satisfactorily  yesterday  at  Cam- 
bridge as  you  have  probably  already  seen  by  the  papers. 


362  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

It  was  an  interesting  occasion,  and  the  greatest  crowd 
of  graduates  present  ever  known,  and  all  seemed  to  be 
satisfied.  Butler  appeared  to  great  advantage  and  quite 
turned  the  tables  upon  the  College  overseers.  *  *  *  " 

Two  years  later  he  served  again  as  substitute  for  an 
absent  president  of  the  Alumni  at  a  memorable  com- 
mencement dinner.  The  absentee  this  time  was  Phillips 
Brooks,  but  Harvard  men  of  great  renown  were  present. 
Mr.  Choate  presided,  and  the  Boston  Advertiser  of  June 
25,  1885,  reports  his  remarks  as  follows: 

After  the  meal  had  been  served,  Mr.  Choate  rapped 
for  order,  which  he  succeeded  finally  in  obtaining,  and 
said: 

"Brethren  of  the  Alumni:  Now  that  you  have  ban- 
queted upon  these  more  substantial  dainties  which  the 
Delmonico  of  Harvard  has  provided,  I  invite  you  to 
partake  of  the  more  delicate  diet  of  tongues  and  sounds- 
the  favorite  dish  at  every  Harvard  dinner — where,  of 
course,  every  alumnus  expects  to  get  his  deserts.  We 
have  assembled  for  the  two  hundred  and  forty-ninth 
time  to  pay  our  vows  at  the  shrine  of  our  alma  mater, 
to  revel  in  the  delights  of  mutual  admiration,  and  to 
welcome  to.  the  commencement  of  actual  life  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  new  brethren  that  our  mother 
has  brought  forth  today.  Gentlemen,  it  is  to  your  great 
misfortune,  and  not  a  little  to  my  embarrassment,  that 
I  have  been  called  upon  on  two  occasions  to  stand  here 
in  the  place  of  the  president  of  your  choice,  and  to  fill 
the  shoes  of  a  better  man,  and  if  I  shuffle  awkwardly 
along  in  them,  you  will  remember  that  they  are  several 
sizes  too  large  for  me,  and  with  higher  heels  than  I  am 


THE   EIGHTIES  363 

accustomed  to  wear.  On  a  former  occasion,  in  view  of 
the  incompatibility  of  sentiment  among  high  authori- 
ties, and,  by  your  counsel  and  aid,  with  apparent  suc- 
cess, 'Grim  visaged  war'  did  smooth  'his  wrinkled  front* 
and  peace  and  harmony  prevailed  where  blood  had 
threatened. 

"But  how,  gentlemen,  can  I  hope  to  fill  your  just  ex- 
pectations today,  when  you  have  justly  counted  upon 
the  most  popular  of  all  your  divines  and  the  most  fervent 
of  all  your  orators,  who  should  now  be  leading  your  coun- 
cil here?  But  Phillips  Brooks,  having  long  ago  mastered 
all  hearts  at  home,  has  gone  abroad  in  search  of  new 
conquests.  When  last  heard  from  he  was  doing  well  in 
very  kindred  company;  for  he  was  breakfasting  with 
Gladstone,  the  statesman  whose  defeat  is  his  mightiest 
victory;  the  scholar  and  the  orator,  who  would  exchange 
for  no  title  the  royal  gift,  the  lustre  of  his  own  great  name. 
But,  gentlemen,  I  have  no  fears  for  the  success  of  this 
occasion,  notwithstanding  the  absence  that  we  deplore, 
when  I  look  around  these  tables  and  see  who  still  are 
here.  In  the  first  place,  you  are  all  here.  And  when 
the  sons  of  Harvard  are  all  together,  basking  in  the  sun- 
shine of  each  other's  countenances,  what  need  is  there 
for  the  sun  to  shine?  And  then,  President  Eliot  is  here. 
I  remember  that  sixteen  years  ago  we  gave  him  his  first 
welcome  to  the  seat  where  Quincy,  Everett,  Sparks,  and 
Felton  and  Walker  had  sat  before  him;  and  today,  in 
your  names,  I  may  thank  him  that  he  has  more  than 
redeemed  the  pride  and  promise  of  the  earlier  days.  While 
it  cannot  exactly  be  said  that  he  found  Harvard  of  brick 
and  left  it  marble,  it  can  truly  be  said  that  he  found  it 
a  college  and  has  already  made  it  a  university;  and  let 
us  all  hope  that  his  faithful  reign  over  us  may  continue 


364 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


as  long  as  he  has  the  strength  and  the  courage  to  carry 
on  the  good  work  that  he  has  in  hand.  And,  then,  the 
governor  of  the  Commonwealth  is  here,  always  a  most 
honored  guest  among  the  alumni  of  Harvard.  Governor 
Winthrop  attended  the  first  commencement  in  1642; 
and  I  believe  that  since  that  time  there  has  never  been 
any  exception  to  the  presence  of  the  chief  magistrate. 

"Then,  gentlemen,  we  are  honored  with  the  presence 
of  the  Vice  President  [Hendricks]  of  the  United  States. 
And  now  that  Harvard  has  assumed  such  national  propor- 
tions, what  could  be  more  fit  than  that  we  should  wel- 
come to  our  board  one  of  the  chief  representatives  of 
the  national  government?  He  comes  to  us,  gentlemen, 
fresh  from  Yale,  and  if  we  may  believe  the  morning  papers 
— a  very  large  if,  I  must  admit — if  we  may  believe  those 
veracious  journals,  the  eminent  Vice  President  yesterday 
at  New  Haven  gave  utterance  to  two  brief  and  pithy  sen- 
timents, one  of  which  we  shall  accept  with  absolute, 
unqualified  applause,  and  the  other  of  which  we  must 
swallow,  if  at  all,  with  a  modification.  'Yale,'  said  he, 
in  short  and  sententious  words — which  are  the  essence 
of  great  men  and  which  we  are  all  so  fond  of  hearing  and 
reporting — 'Yale,'  said  he,  'is  everywhere/  Gentlemen, 
I  would  say  with  this  modification:  Yes,  Yale  is  every- 
where, but  she  always  finds  Harvard  there  before  her. 
(Applause.)  Gentlemen,  the  rudeness  of  your  manner 
broke  off  my  sentence.  She  always  finds  Harvard  there 
before  her,  or  close  alongside  or  very  closely  in  her  rear; 
and  let  us  hope  that  her  boys  at  New  London  will  demon- 
strate the  truth  of  that  tomorrow.  The  other  sentiment 
that  he  uttered,  gentlemen,  and  that  needs  no  qualifica- 
tion, is  that  public  office  is  a  public  trust.  Gentlemen, 
in  saying  that  he  stole  Harvard  thunder.    That  has  been 


THE   EIGHTIES  365 

her  doctrine  since  the  days  of  John  Adams;  and  I  am 
sure  that  you  will  be  perfectly  delighted  to  hear  from 
this  eminent  man  that  old  doctrine  of  ours  reinforced. 

"But,  gentlemen,  better  than  all  the  rest,  once  more 
at  home  in  his  old  place  among  us  again,  is  James  Russell 
Lowell.  Eight  years  ago,  gentlemen,  he  left  us  for  the 
public  service.  Men  who  did  not  know  him  wondered 
how  poetry  and  diplomacy  would  work  together;  poetry, 
the  science  of  all  truth,  and  diplomacy  that  is  sometimes 
thought  to  be  not  quite  so  true.  Well,  if  you  will  allow 
me,  I  will  explain  his  triumphs  abroad  by  a  wise  saying 
of  Goethe's  the  fitness  of  which,  I  think,  you  will  recog- 
nize. 'Poetry/  says  he,  'belongs  not  to  the  noble  nor 
to  the  people,  neither  to  king  nor  to  peasant;  it  is  the 
offspring  of  a  true  man/  Gentlemen,  it  is  not  because 
of  the  laurels  that  were  heaped  upon  him  abroad,  riot 
because  he  commanded  new  honor  for  the  American 
scholar  and  the  American  people  and  not  because  his 
name  will  henceforth  be  a  new  bond  of  union  between 
the  two  countries;  but  we  learned  to  love  him  before 
he  went  away,  because  we  knew  that  from  the  begin- 
ning he  had  been  the  fearless  champion  of  truth  and  of 
freedom,  and  during  every  year  of  his  absence,  we  have 
loved  him  the  more.  And  so,  in  your  names,  I  bid  him 
a  cordial  welcome  home  again. 

"You  will  also  be  pleased  to  hear  that  Dr.  Holmes 
has  been  inspired  by  this  interesting  feature  of  the  oc- 
casion to  mount  his  Pegasus  once  more  and  ride  out  to 
Cambridge  upon  his  back;  and  soon  you  will  hear  him 
strike  his  lyre  once  more  in  praise  of  his  younger  brother. 
But,  gentlemen,  these  are  not  all  the  treasures  that  are 
in  store  for  you.  Dr.  James  Freeman  Clarke,  after 
twenty-five  years  of  continuous  service  on  the  board  of 


366  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

overseers,  from  which  he  now  retires  by  the  edict  of  th< 
constitution,  will  tell  you  frankly  what  he  thinks  about 
you  and  about  them.  And  then,  to  the  class  of  1835, 
on  the  fiftieth  year  of  its  graduation,  the  crowning 
honors  of  this  day  belong,  and  I  am  pleased  to  say  that 
their  chosen  spokesman,  although  pretending  to  be  for 
the  moment  an  invalid — he  wrote  to  me  that  he  was  no 
better  than  he  should  be — is  here  to  speak  for  them. 
For  us  who  have  been  coming  up  to  Cambridge  for  the 
last  thirty  years,  I  would  like  to  know  what  Harvard 
commencement  without  Judge  Hoar  would  be?  Who 
can  forget  the  quips  and  cranks  and  wanton  wiles  with 
which  he  has  beguiled  many  an  hour  that  promised  to 
be  dull;  and  how  he  has,  I  will  not  say  blighted,  but 
dimmed  some  of  our  lighter  moments  by  words  of  wis- 
dom and  power.  So  in  your  name  I  say:  'Long  life  and 
a  green  old  age  to  Judge  Hoar  and  all  the  members  of 
the  class  of  1835/ 

"Then,  gentlemen,  all  these  new  doctors  of  law:  why, 
Harvard  returning  to  an  ancient  custom,  has  been 
graduating  them  out  of  her  own  sons,  and  today  it  may 
truly  be  said  that  the  university  has  been  growing  rich 
and  strong  by  degrees.  You  will  be  glad  to  hear  all  of 
them  speak  for  themselves.  Of  one  of  them,  Dr.  Carter, 
I  will  say,  from  intimate  knowledge,  that  he  leads  us  gal- 
lantly at  the  bar  of  New  York,  and  all  his  associates  re- 
joice in  his  leadership.  He  has  recently  rendered  a  signal 
service  to  the  jurisprudence  of  that  great  state  by  con- 
tributing more  than  any  other  man  to  the  defeat  of  a 
code  which  threatened  to  involve  all  the  settled  law  of 
the  community  in  confusion  and  contempt. 

"Well,  now,  gentlemen,  as  I  have  told  you  who  are 
to  speak  to  you,  I  should  sit  down.     I  believe,  however, 


THE  EIGHTIES  367 

it  is  usual  for  the  presiding  officer  to  recall  any  startling 
events  in  the  history  of  the  college.  Gentlemen,  there 
have  been  none.  The  petition  of  the  undergraduates 
for  what  they  called  a  fuller  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
in  being  relieved  from  compulsory  attendance  on  morn- 
ing prayers,  was  denied.  The  answer  of  the  overseers 
was  well  conceived — that,  in  obedience  to  the  settled 
rules  and  regulations  of  the  college,  of  which  that  was 
one,  they  would  find  an  all  sufficient  liberty.  That 
idea  was  not  original  with  them;  they  borrowed  it  from 
Mr.  Lowell,  when  he  said  and  sung  in  his  sonnet  upon 
the  reformers: — 

"'Who  yet  have  not  the  one  great  lesson  learned 
That  grows  in  leaves, 
Tides  in  the  mighty  seas, 
And  in  the  stars  eternally  hath  burned, 
That  only  full  obedience  is  free/ 

"The  only  other  incident  in  the  history  of  the  year 
is  the  successful  effort  that  has  been  made  in  digging 
out  the  history  of  John  Harvard;  and  about  that  the 
president  of  the  college  will  tell  you  in  good  time — who 
he  was,  whence  he  came,  and  where  he  got  the  fortune 
and  the  library  which  he  contributed,  along  with  his 
melodious  name,  to  the  college.  He  gave  half  of  all  he 
had,  gentlemen,  and  out  of  that  modest  fountain  what 
vast  results  have  flowed.  May  no  red-handed  vandal  of 
an  undergraduate  ever  desecrate  his  statue  that  stands  at 
the  head  of  the  Delta ! 

"And  now,  brethren,  would  you  have  your  statue 
crowned?  Would  you,  too,  become  immortal?  Would 
you  identify  your  names  with  the  glory  of  the  college? 
The  way  is  open  and  easy.     Follow  exactly  the  example 


368  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

of  the  founder;  give  one  equal  half  of  all  you  are  worth 
to  the  college,  and  if  you  wish  to  enjoy  your  own  im- 
mortality, do  it  tomorrow,  while  you  are  alive.  If  you 
shrink  from  that,  die  at  once  and  give  it  to  them  now. 
Other  people,  possibly,  will  rise  up  and  call  you  blessed, 
whatever  your  own  may  do;  so  you  will  relieve  the 
president  of  more  than  half  the  labors  of  his  office. 

"Gentlemen,  I  did  want  to  say  a  word  about  another 
matter,  the  elective  system,  but  President  Eliot  tells 
me  I  had  better  not.  He  says  that  the  board  of  overseers 
of  the  college  are  incubating  on  that  question,  and  that 
there  is  no  telling  what  they  may  hatch  out.  Now  don't 
let  us  disturb  them,  gentlemen,  at  any  rate,  while  they 
are  on  the  nest;  we  might  crack  the  shell  and  then  the 
whole  work  would  have  to  be  done  over  again.  And 
so,  gentlemen,  as  you  now  seem  to  be  in  good  mood,  let 
me  say  one  word  more  about  this  elective  system.  I  don't 
care  how  they  settle  it;  I  hope  they  will  give  us  the  means 
of  sustaining  and  fortifying  their  decision  when  they 
make  it.  We  alumni  at  a  distance  from  the  college  are 
often  stung  to  indignation  by  the  attacks  that  are  made 
upon  us  by  the  representatives  of  other  colleges.  One 
would  think  by  the  way  they  talk  down  there  at  Prince- 
ton that  Harvard  was  going  to  the  everlasting  bow-wows; 
that  the  fountains  of  learning  were  being  undermined 
and  broken  up;  that,  as  Mr.  Lowell  said  again: — 

"  'The  Anglo-Saxondom's  idee's  a-breakin'  'em  to  pieces, 
An*  thet  idee's  thet  every  mon  doos  just  wut  he 
damn  pleases.' 

"  I  suppose  the  truth  about  the  elective  system  is  that 
the  world  moves  on  and  colleges  move  with  it.  In  Cotton 
Mather's  time,  when  he  said  that  the  sole  object  of  the 


THE  EIGHTIES  369 

foundation  of  a  college  was  to  furnish  a  good  supply  of 
godly  ministers  for  the  provinces,  it  was  well  enough  to 
feed  them  on  Latin  and  Greek  only.  Now  that  young 
men  when  they  go  out  into  the  world  have  everything 
to  do  about  taking  part  in  all  the  activities  of  life,  for 
one  I  say  let  them  have  the  chance  to  learn  here  any- 
thing they  can  possibly  want  to.  And  I  hope  that  our 
president  will  persevere  in  one  direction  at  least  until 
he  can  say  truly  that  whatever  is  worth  learning  can  be 
taught  well  at  Harvard.  This  is  well  expressed  again 
in  an  idea  of  Mr.  Lowell's,  who  always  has  ideas  enough, 
if  divided,  to  go  around  even  among  us: — 

"  'New  occasions  teach  new  duties; 

Time  makes  ancient  good  uncouth; 

They  must  upward  still,  and  onward, 

Who  would  keep  abreast  of  truth.' 

"Now,  gentlemen,  let  me  say  a  single  word  before  I 
sit  down.  I  hope  you  will  be  very  patient  with  all  the 
other  speakers.  I  advise  them,  as  the  hour  is  late  and 
the  afternoon  is  short  and  there  are  a  great  many  of  them 
in  number,  each  to  put  a  good  deal  of  shortening  in  his 
cake,  which  I  have  omitted.  That  is  a  rule  that  never 
is  applied  to  the  presiding  officer,  and  I  am  afraid  it 
never  will  be. 

"Now,  gentlemen,  I  give  you  the  health  of  President 
Eliot.    Long  life  to  him!" 

Next  to  his  family  in  Mr.  Choate's  heart  was  Harvard 
College.  He  belonged  to  it,  and  it  belonged  to  him.  He 
always  went  to  commencement  when  he  could,  and  to 
baseball  games  and  boat-races,  and  even  football  games 
when  their  day  came.     When  he  got  to  Cambridge  and 


370  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

spoke  at  commencement  dinners,  he  was  talking  to  his 
own,  and  his  own  always  received  him  with  affection  and 
applause.  In  New  York  for  half  a  century  or  more  he  was 
a  mainstay  of  the  Harvard  Club,  and  when  it  came  to 
its  fiftieth  anniversary  he  was  able  out  of  his  own  recol- 
lections to  tell  its  whole  history.  When  the  question 
came  up  of  electing  to  the  board  of  overseers  persons 
not  residents  of  Massachusetts,  who  should  represent 
the  alumni  living  in  other  States,  Mr.  Choate  was  heartily 
for  it,  and  the  Harvard  Register,  of  March,  1 880,  reported 
the  speech  he  made  on  that  subject  at  the  Harvard  dinner 
that  year  in  New  York.  The  habitual  date  in  older  and 
wetter  days  of  the  New  York  Harvard  dinner  was  the 
2 1  st  of  February,  that  the  diners  might  have  a  holiday 
for  purposes  of  restoration  and  further  social  discourse. 
Mr.  Choate  always  went  to  the  Harvard  dinners  when 
he  could,  and  usually  he  could,  and  always  if  he  went 
he  spoke,  and  this  is  what  he  said  at  the  dinner  in  1880: 

"Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen: — You  have  yourself 
treated  the  subject  of  the  relations  of  the  alumni,  here 
and  elsewhere,  with  such  a  sensitive  delicacy  of  touch, 
that  I  hardly  dare  to  enter  upon  it.  I  am  a  very  bad 
man  indeed  to  handle  a  delicate  subject.  I  have  had 
one  warning  experience  which  has  prevented  me  from 
entering  upon  a  discussion  of  anything  that  appeals  to 
the  sensitive  feelings  of  an  audience.  I  was  invited, 
on  one  occasion,  to  deliver  an  address  to  the  graduating 
class  of  a  medical  school  in  this  city;  and  I  did  what 
I  could  to  treat  my  subject  in  what  seemed  to  me  its 
proper  relations,  and  supposed  I  had  succeeded.  The 
next  morning,  however,  I  received  an  anonymous  letter, 
written  in  a  disguised  but  evidently  a  feminine  hand, 


THE  EIGHTIES  371 

in  which  the  writer  said  that  she  had  attended  the  ses- 
sions of  the  Black  Crook,  and  all  the  other  liberal  enter- 
tainments that  had  been  given  in  this  city,  but  she  had 
never  heard  anything  anywhere  that  savored  so  strongly 
the  principles  of  the  Broad  Church  as  my  address. 
Well,  I  accepted  the  theological  compliment,  not  for 
myself  alone,  but  because  it  showed  how  justly  I  had 
profited  by  the  ecclesiastical  teachings  to  which  I  had 
so  long  been  subjected.  Now,  Mr.  President,  you  have 
treated  this  subject,  as  I  understood  you,  in  a  somewhat 
jocular  vein.  Your  geographical  humor  carried  every- 
thing before  it  across  the  whole  breadth  of  the  continent. 
But  when  you  reached  the  isothermal  line,  I  confess  I 
failed  to  follow  the  thread  of  your  argument.  Now,  I 
must  admit  that  I  have  not  been  entirely  convinced  by 
the  solid  argument  of  the  president  of  the  University. 
I  do  not  see  yet  that  the  whole  wisdom  of  the  alumni 
of  the  College,  in  whose  hands  is  vested  the  suffrage  for 
its  government,  is  all  collected  around  Beacon  Hill.  I 
agree  that  the  hub  is  there,  but  not  the  whole  wheel. 
AH  the  felloes  that  amount  to  anything  are  evidently 
on  the  outside  of  the  circle.  Who  can  dispute  the  jus- 
tice of  the  demand  of  the  alumni  outside  of  Massachusetts, 
constituting,  as  I  believe,  a  clear  majority  of  all  the  sur- 
viving graduates,  and  of  the  friends  of  the  three  hundred 
out  of  eight  hundred  undergraduates  on  the  present 
annual  catalogue,  who  hail  from  other  States — that  they 
are  entitled  to  at  least  one  representative  in  the  Board 
of  Overseers?  It  is  a  reasonable  demand,  which  they 
have  pressed  modestly  but  firmly,  and  which  they  will 
continue  to  press  in  the  same  spirit  until  it  shall  be  ac- 
corded to  them. 

"But   I  will  not  encumber  the  discussion  with  any 


372  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

more  of  those  trifling  and  mirthful  arguments  with  which 
you,  sir,  and  the  president  of  the  University,  have  al- 
ready illustrated  it,  in  the  warm  encounter  of  your  wits. 
I  will  try  to  give  one  or  two  serious  reasons  why  I  think 
this  demand  is  no  more  than  fair. 

"In  the  first  place,  we,  the  non-resident  alumni  of 
the  College,  occupy  exactly  the  same  relation  to  the  resi- 
dent brethren  as  that  which  the  Prodigal  Son  in  the  par- 
able bore  to  his  more  favored  but  less  deserving  brother 
at  home.  We  fill  that  role  exactly.  We  took  our  little 
portion  of  the  college  heritage,  and  carried  it  into  a  far 
country,  leaving  behind  us  the  luscious  viands  which 
our  more  fortunate  brethren  at  the  old  homestead  could 
still  feed  upon;  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  we  have 
had,  in  a  large  measure,  to  put  up  with  the  comparative 
husks  on  which  the  litters  of  other  colleges  are  fed  at 
their  university  troughs.  We  have  had  to  content  our- 
selves with  original  researches  into  the  secrets  of  Nature 
far  less  striking  than  those  conducted  by  Professor 
Agassiz.  In  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic,  along  the  coast 
of  Barnegat,  and  on  the  shore  of  Long  Island,  we  have 
had  to  do  our  own  deep-sea  dredging  on  our  own  hook. 
So,  too,  instead  of  the  robust  ratiocinations  of  Professor 
Hedge,  which  have  so  long  fortified  the  minds  of  the 
resident  alumni,  we  have  had  to  get  along  with  far  feebler 
and  more  inconsequential  logic.  And  when  we  have  fallen 
into  physical  disorders,  instead  of  enjoying  the  luxury 
of  being  treated  by  the  skilful  hand  of  Dr.  Morrill  Wy- 
man,  we  have  had  to  submit  ourselves  to  the  experiments 
of  the  more  remote  and  alien  faculty  which  other  colleges 
afford  us.  Now,  as  all  these  hardships  have  been  self- 
imposed,  and  voluntarily  incurred,  we  have  come  to 
think,  from  our  reading  of  the  Scripture  and  from  its 

l 


THE   EIGHTIES  373 

exposition  in  the  pulpits  under  whose  droppings  we  sit, 
that  we,  the  prodigal  brethren,  are  a  little  more  deserving 
than  the  youths  who  have  stayed  at  home,  and  devoted 
themselves  more  closely  to  the  almus  pater  and  the  alma 
mater.  So  you  must  not  think  it  strange,  Mr.  President, 
that  when  we  return  we  think  it  no  more  than  right  that 
the  fatted  calf  should  be  killed  for  us;  and,  as  we  have 
heard  that  there  are  nowhere  any  fatter  calVes  than  in 
the  Board  of  Overseers,  we  supposed  that  it  was  not 
asking  too  much  that  one  of  them  should  be  killed  on 
our  account. 

"Then,  there  are  other  equally  serious  and  convincing 
reasons  why  our  cause  should  prevail.  One  is,  that  all 
of  the  alumni  outside  of  Massachusetts,  from  the  class 
of  1830,  to  which  you,  Mr.  President,  belonged,  down 
to  those  of  the  latest  years,  are  younger  than  men  of 
the  same  grade  who  remain  in  Massachusetts,  and,  be- 
cause they  are  younger,  they  can  render  better  service, 
man  for  man;  that  is,  they  are  younger  to  the  cubic  foot 
than  those  who  remain  on  the  native  soil  without  trans- 
planting. I  don't  know  exactly  how  to  account  for  it, 
unless  it  be  that  in  those  ancient  places  where  human 
beings  have  been  for  so  many  centuries  accustomed  to 
be  born  and  bred,  a  certain  mysterious  crust  of  antiquity 
forms  over  the  human  frame,  which  nothing  but  trans- 
planting can  help  them  to  break  through.  But  the  fact 
anyhow  is  clearly  so.  I  might  give  a  personal  illustration 
or  two  from  among  our  own  members.  Take,  for  in- 
stance, our  distinguished  district  judge  of  this  city.*  He 
spent  half  of  his  life  in  the  ancient  city  of  Salem,  and 
then  came  to  New  York  older  by  twenty  years  than  he 
is  today,  after  fifteen  years  of  added  labor,  in  which 

*  His  brother  William. 


374  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

he  has  won  all  the  laurels  of  the  profession,  and  attained 
to  the  judicial  crown.  Or  you  may  take  our  distinguished 
representative  on  the  outskirts  of  the  Board  of  Overseers. 
Why,  I  remember,  twenty-eight  years  ago,  when  I  grad- 
uated, we  had  our  class  supper  at  Parker's  in  Boston, 
and  I  was  sent  into  the  adjoining  hall  with  a  bottle  of 
wine  to  extend  our  congratulations  to  the  class  of  1832, 
then  holding  the  twentieth  anniversary  of  its  graduation. 
There  he  was,  older  and  more  venerable  apparently  by 
many  times  than  he  is  today.  Everybody  knows  that, 
thanks  to  the  vigorous  atmosphere  and  healthful  life 
of  New  York,  by  which  he  has  benefited  now  for  forty 
years,  he  is  today  younger  himself,  and  has  younger  chil- 
dren, than  any  other  graduate  of  the  same  age  in  any 
part  of  the  country.  There  is  another  serious  reason 
that  strikes  my  mind;  and  that  is,  that  the  alumni  here 
are  nearer  the  University,  and  can  get  to  the  meetings 
of  the  Board  more  quickly,  than  those  who  live  in  the 
neighboring  towns  about  Boston.  Why,  for  us,  but  not 
for  them,  time  and  space  have  been  entirely  annihilated 
by  the  steamboat,  the  railroad,  the  telephone,  and  the 
telegraph;  and,  while  the  Salem  man  or  the  Plymouth 
man  is  pulling  on  his  boots,  the  Harvard  graduate  from 
New  York  has  already  traversed  the  Sound,  and  reached 
the  city  of  Boston.  I  appeal  to  yourselves,  if  it  is  not 
the  universal  experience,  that  when  we  set  out  to  visit 
Boston  we  arrive  in  the  city  at  the  very  peep  of  day, 
in  season  to  catch  the  average  Bostonian  not  yet  out  of 
bed.  Another  reason  is,  that  we  know  more  about  the 
University,  and  take  a  more  lively  interest  in  it,  than 
the  men  who  live  in  its  immediate  vicinity.  When,  I 
should  like  to  know,  in  the  whole  two  hundred  and  forty 
years  of  the  history  of  Harvard  College,  would  you  have 
been  able  to  get  up  in  the  city  of  Boston  a  Harvard  din- 


THE   EIGHTIES  375 

ner  with  such  spirit  and  enthusiasm  as  have  been  mani- 
fested here  tonight? 

" '  Tis  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view, 
And  robes  the  College  in  her  crimson  hue.' 

"Instead  of  getting  at  the  bottom  facts, — instead 
of  knowing  all  the  trouble  and  the  trials,  the  dissensions 
and  the  difficulties,  that  prevail  under  the  serene  shadow 
of  her  classic  elms, — we  get  our  ideas  of  college  matters 
through  the  rose-colored  representations  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  University,  in  his  reports  which  he  gives  us 
in  these  annual  visits;  and  of  course  that  is  a  very  dif- 
ferent thing. 

"Gentlemen,  these  are  a  few  of  the  reasons  which  I 
hope  will  address  themselves  to  the  wisdom  of  the  Legis- 
lature in  considering  the  bill  to  do  away  with  the  ineli- 
gibility of  non-residents;  and  I  trust  that  that  bill  may 
now  be  put  upon  its  passage.  Finally,  unless  someone 
can  give  better  reasons — moral,  geographical,  or  political 
— I  hope  you  will  content  yourselves  with  these.  And 
this,  sir,  let  me  say  in  conclusion:  that  however  this 
little  question  may  be  decided,  whether  we  shall  be  num- 
bered with  the  elect,  or  remain  as  we  are,  we  shall  con- 
tinue to  love  and  labor  for  the  honor  of  our  dear  alma 
mater  all  the  same;  for  from  her  we  have  drawn  all  our 
best  inspirations,  and  to  her  our  best  efforts  will  ever  be 
Hue." 

To  His  Daughter  in  Europe 

"University  Club,  370  Fifth  Av, 
Sunday  evening,  July  8th,  1883. 
"My  Well-Beloved  Effie: 

"My  last  day  in  New  York,  and  tomorrow  I  start 
for  my  long-promised  vacation.     What  a  luxury  it  will 


376  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

be  to  me  to  escape  from  the  city,  and  to  roll  on  the  grass, 
ride  over  the  hills,  and  float  in  Stockbridge  bowl, 
have  had  a  fiery  week  since  last  Sunday,  but  today  the 
change  has  come,  as  it  always  does.  Yesterday  the  Ther- 
mometer in  the  shade  was  97,  and  today  as  I  write  it  is 
only  60  with  floods  of  cold  rain  coming  down.  Mr.  South- 
mayd  came  down  from  Stockbridge  Friday,  and  he  said 
that  as  he  got  on  to  the  train  George  &  Mama,  Grand- 
ma Choate  and  George  GersdorfF  got  off,  arriving  from 
Boston.  But  he  said  '  I  didn't  tell  her  I  was  coming  down 
to  give  you  a  chance  to  come  up/  Dear  old  Southmayd ! 
He  is  the  same  delight  as  ever.  He  often  tells  me  how 
ridiculous  I  have  been  to  let  you  go  abroad.  'Enlarge 
her  mind !  Pshaw !  Promote  her  knowledge  of  French ! 
Humbug!'  If  he  only  had  the  bringing  of  you  up,  he'd 
make  a  woman  of  you,  etc.  etc.  So  you  see,  my  darling, 
your  papa  may  be  a  great  mistake  after  all.  *  *  * 

"I  hope,  my  dear  girl,  that  you  are  enjoying  every 
moment,  and  making  the  most  of  the  splendid  advantages 
you  are  having  this  summer.  Why,  before  I  went  to 
College  I  had  hardly  been  out  of  Salem  in  my  whole  life, 
and  here  you  are,  at  fourteen,  across  the  Atlantic,  and 
visiting  all  the  great  capitals  and  seeing  the  wonders 
of  the  world.  I  hope  you  will  see  everything  in  Paris. 
It  will  be  so  delightful  to  remember  afterwards,  and  add 
such  a  charm  to  all  your  reading.  *  *  * 

"Are  you  growing  tall?  Are  you  growing  fat?  I  will 
not  ask  you  if  you  are  growing  handsome.        p        „ 

To  the  Same 

"Stockbridge,  July  12th,  1883. 
"The  reason  I  didn't  write  you  by  today's  (Thursday's) 
steamer  was  that  I  had  nothing  else  to  do.    When  I  was 


THE  EIGHTIES  377 

driven  to  death  in  New  York,  I  could  always  find  time 
to  write  you  by  every  steamer,  but  I  came  up  here  on 
Monday,  and  put  on  my  vacation  laziness,  and  so  you 
must  expect  me  often  to  miss.  *  *  * 

"Our  house  in  S.  is  just  full  enough  to  suit  me.  Aunt 
C.  has  your  room,  Grandma  S.  has  kindly  given  up  hers 
to  Grandma  C.  who  did  not  wish  to  sleep  down  stairs 
but  could  not  well  go  further  up.  Mabel  &  Jo  have  their 
own  rooms,  Grandma  S.  has  Ruly's  and  George  his  own, 
while  the  DeG.  boys  are  together  in  the  other  front  upper 

Papa." 
To  the  Same 

(August  29.)  "  *  *  *  Mama  sits  by  my  side,  carous- 
ing over  last  night's  Evening  Post.  She  is  very  dignified, 
and  still  rules  me,  as  she  always  did  with  a  rod  of  iron. 
Sometimes  she  pretends  to  let  me  have  my  own  way 
or  think  my  own  thoughts  for  a  few  minutes,  but  then 
she  draws  the  reins  tight  again,  and  I  have  to  gee  as  she 
turns.  Still  she  is  the  same  dear  old  thing  as  when  you 
went  away,  and  such  tyranny  who  would  not  be  proud 
to  bear?    Hem !  !  ! 

"The  are  all  well.     P.  S.     They  wear  the  same 

clothes  as  last  year,  and  George  Lawrence  the  same  hat. 
There ! 

"Isn't  this  nonsense  enough  for  one  letter?  Read 
Mama's  of  same  date  for  the  solid  facts ! 

Ever  your  fond  Papa." 

Of  the  sudden  death  of  Ruluff  Choate  on  April  5,  1884, 
the  Sun  told  the  story  as  follows: 

"Ruluff  Sterling  Choate,  the  eldest  son  of  Mr.  Joseph 
H.  Choate,  died  suddenly  on  Saturday  evening  at  his 


378  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

father's  residence,  50  West  Forty-seventh  Street.  He 
was  nineteen  years  old  last  September,  and  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Freshman  Class  of  Harvard  College. 

"He  came  home  on  Wednesday  last  to  spend  the  vaca- 
tion between  the  winter  and  spring  terms,  and  was  to 
have  returned  to  college  next  Friday.  He  seemed  to 
be  in  the  very  best  of  health.  On  Friday  evening  he 
attended  the  concert  of  the  Hasty  Pudding  Club,  and 
he  was  down  town  the  greater  part  of  the  next  day.  He 
took  dinner  with  the  family  on  Saturday  evening,  and 
was  in  very  cheerful  spirits.  When  the  meal  was  over, 
and  while  the  family  were  still  sitting  at  the  table,  Mr. 
Choate  asked  his  son  to  take  a  message  to  Dr.  William 
H.  Draper,  whose  residence  is  a  short  distance  away, 
at  19  East  Forty-seventh  Street.  It  was  then  half-past 
seven  oclock.  The  young  man  went  to  Dr.  Draper's, 
saw  him,  delivered  the  message  and,  returning,  resumed 
his  seat  at  the  table.  A  few  minutes  later  he  put  his 
hand  to  his  head  and  complained  of  a  violent  pain.  Then 
he  was  seized  with  nausea,  and  he  soon  afterward  lost 
consciousness.  He  was  carried  to  a  sofa  in  the  parlor, 
and  word  was  hurriedly  sent  to  Dr.  Draper.  He  went 
to  the  house  and  found  the  young  man  who  had  parted 
from  him  in  full  health  a  few  moments  before  lying  at 
the  point  of  death.  Nothing  could  be  done  for  him.  He 
lived  only  three  minutes  after  Dr.  Draper's  arrival.  The 
entire  attack  had  lasted  only  fifteen  minutes. 

"Dr.  Draper  said  yesterday  that  the  young  man  had 
unquestionably  died  of  apoplexy,  and  that  it  was  a  very 
unusual  case.  He  was  six  feet,  two  inches  in  height, 
and  slender.  He  was  bright  and  clever,  and  of  a  kindly 
nature.  He  had  passed  most  of  his  life  in  New  York, 
except  last  year,  when  he  studied  German  in  Hanover." 


THE   EIGHTIES  379 

To  His  Wife 

"New  York,  June  1884. 
"  *  *  *     I  am  afraid  that  T.  W.  found  nine  hours  of 
me  in  close  contact  altogether  too  much  for  him,  for, 
except  in  your  company  I  find  it  quite  out  of  the  ques- 
tion to  keep  my  freshness  so  long  with  any  one.  *  *  *  " 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  12  April  1885. 

«  *  *  *  We  are  variously  engaged  at  this  moment 
after  our  Sunday  tea.  Carl  is  drumming  on  the  piano; 
Mabel  is  reading  'Peveril  of  the  Peak*  and  George  is 
resting  from  a  seven  hours'  pull  that  I  have  given  him 
today  in  Virgil,  reading  the  whole  of  the  4th  book  which 
he  was  bound  to  have  ready  tomorrow  and  seemed  to 
have  neglected.  *  *  * 

"Not  having  had  our  usual  ride  today,  Geo.  and  I 
took  a  sprint  in  the  Park  on  foot  before  supper.  *  *  *  " 

(April  15.)  "  *  *  *  Mr.  Carter  and  I  are  expecting 
every  day  to  try  the  Winans  case,  but  it  has  not  yet  come 
on.  When  it  does  I  expect  that  it  will  set  the  reporters 
all  agog." 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  17  June  '85. 
"I  am  afraid  you  think  me  altogether  too  reticent, 
but  in  truth  this  is  the  very  busiest  week  of  my  whole 
year, — in  Court  from  Monday  morning  to  Friday  night 
and  cramming  all  the  rest  of  the  time.  Tomorrow  night 
I  have  to  go  to  Syracuse  to  argue  a  case  and  back  the 
next  night." 


38o  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

The  natural  result  of  having  more  to  do  than  even 
his  astonishing  powers  of  work  could  readily  handle 
appears  in  the  letter  to  his  wife  that  follows,  written,  as 
were  all  the  letters  that  are  quoted  here,  by  his  own  hand 
and  pen: 

(June  1 6.)  "You  write  to  me  to  do  things  instantly 
as  though  my  time  was  all  at  my  own  command,  when, 
I  assure  you,  until  next  Saturday  morning,  I  haven't 
a  moment  to  breathe  and  can't  get  one.  As  to  settling 
the  water  question  with  Mr.  Field,  in  the  first  place  as 
he  is  only  in  town  from  12  to  3,  and  I  am  in  Court  every 
day  from  11  to  4,  or  from  9  to  6,  it  is  impossible  for  me 
to  see  him,  and  if  I  could  I  have  no  idea  that  I  could  ar- 
range anything  with  him.  The  paper  that  I  drew  and 
that  all  the  rest  signed  is  perfectly  fair  and  simple,  and 
as  he  won't  sign  that  I  don't  believe  he  will  any  in  sub- 
stance like  it. 

"You  can  give  Mr.  Anderson  any  directions  you  please 
about  the  Adams  House.  I  never  wrote  to  him  nor  had 
any  idea  of  doing  so.  Today  I  shall  be  in  Court  all  day, 
tomorrow  at  Syracuse,  Saturday  Field  will  not  be  in 
town.  The  whole  difficulty  comes  from  your  expecting 
a  little  too  much  at  my  hands.  It  isn't  possible  for  one 
man  to  do  everything,  and  perhaps  it  is  well  that  some- 
thing should  happen  to  relieve  me  of  this  infinite  bore  of 
building.    Probably  the  whole  scheme  is  a  great  mistake. 

"George  &  Mr.  Pinney  are  plodding  along  and  seem 
to  me  to  be  doing  considerable.  You  see  there  is  an- 
other thing  to  absorb  my  thoughts,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  Commencement  dinner  and  infinite  law  cases. 

"Don't  think  me  out  of  patience.  It  is  simply  sheer 
inability  to  accomplish  the  impossible. 


THE  EIGHTIES  381 

"I  shall  be  at  the  train  for  you  on  Monday  at  seven, 
and  we  shall  be  delighted  to  see  you,  and  I  am  thankful 
that  you  will  take  the  responsibility  of  the  wedding  pres- 
ent." 

(June  18.)  "I  wrote  you  hastily  this  morning,  throw- 
ing out  many  a  flag  of  distress,  I  dare  say,  but  it  seemed 
for  the  moment  that  I  was  being  drawn  and  quartered 
in  all  directions  at  once." 

The  "infinite  bore  of  building"  that  he  speaks  of  re- 
lates to  the  new  house  on  the  west  slope  of  Prospect  Hill 
in  Stockbridge,  that  was  being  built  for  him  by  McKim, 
Mead  &  White,  and  was  finished  in  1886. 


To  His  Wife 

"New  York,  Sept.  30,  1885. 
"I  have  been  in  Court  all  day  listening  to  Mr.  Root 
who  made  a  first  rate  argument,  and  tomorrow  I  shall 
have  the  pleasure  of  hearing  Genl.  Butler,  from  the  rising 
of  the  sun  to  the  going  down  thereof.  It  is  quite  a  new 
sensation  and  a  rare  pleasure  to  me  to  sit  and  listen  with- 
out having  a  word  to  say  myself.  But  the  Court  limited 
us  to  two  on  a  side,  and  I  insisted  that  Mr.  Evarts  and 
Mr.  Root  should  do  the  talking  for  us.  *  *  *  " 

(Monday  morning.)     "I  showed  Prest.  Eliot's  letter 

to  Mr.  Carter,  who  seemed  very  much  pleased,  and  said 

that  it  was  the   best  possible  memorial*   for    Ruluff. 
*  *  *  » 

*  The  memorial  was  a  scholarship  in  Harvard  College. 


384  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

in  the  afternoon  with  the  Woodwards  and  seemed  to 
think  he  had  greatly  the  advantage  of  us,  but  the  play 
was  very  nice. 

"Are  you  ready  to  go  to  school  again  when  you  come 
back?  I  hope  at  any  rate  that  you  will  soon  be  well 
enough  to  do  so. 

"Everybody  is  well  and  all  in  a  hurry  to  see  you. 

Ever  your  loving,  pApA  „ 

To  His  Wife 

"New  York,  6  Deer.  1887. 
"The   Banque  case  fairly   commenced   this   morning 
and  from  all  present  indications  promises  to  last  till  Christ- 
mas, so  you  will  not  expect  anything  from  me  in  the  mean- 
time except  the  most  spasmodic  utterances.  *  *  *  " 

Mr.  William  V.  Rowe,  who  probably  knows  more  about 
Mr.  Choate's  law  cases  than  any  one  else  who  has  sur- 
vived them,  describes  the  Banque  case  as  a  controversy 
between  the  Banque  Franco- Egyptienne  of  Paris  and 
various  leading  New  York  bankers  over  the  sale  of  the 
old  New  York,  Boston  and  Montreal  bonds,  and  speaks 
of  it  as  "the  greatest  action  for  deceit  (in  the  form  of  a 
suit  in  equity  for  an  accounting)  ever  brought  in  New 
York." 

To  His  Wife 

"New  York,  21  Deer.  1887. 
"I  got  through  my  first  day's  argument  today,  talk- 
ing from  11  to  4,  without  the  least  fatigue,  and  only  found 
the  day  too  short — and  tomorrow  I  shall  finish,  but  of 
course  after  the  excitement  is  over  the  reaction  will  come, 
and  I  shall  doubtless  feel  very  tired.     So  I  shall  prize 


MRS.  GEORGE  CHOATE  (1805-1887). 


p  * ^.<*s  a. e        g       -5 

;     • 


THE  EIGHTIES  385 

my  holidays  very  much — with  nothing  whatever  to  do  in 
the  way  of  business.  As  I  said  to  the  Court  this  morning, 
it  was  at  the  summer  solstice  when  the  daylight  lasted 
fifteen  hours  that  I  began  the  serious  preparation  on 
this  case,  and  now  at  the  winter  solstice  I  am  assigned 
to  the  two  shortest  days  of  the  year  to  sum  it  up.  Mr. 
Root,  Mr.  Tweed  and  Mr.  Sweet  have  nobly  done  their 
parts,  &  we  shall  win.  *  *  *  " 

(December  22.)  "I  am  really  free  from  the  load  which 
I  have  been  carrying  for  the  last  six  months.  My  argu- 
ment ended  at  yi  past  four  this  afternoon.  I  should 
gladly  have  gotten  rid  of  this  load,  but  I  inherited  it 
from  the  old  firm  and  I  could  not  shrink  from  it.  *  *  * 

"Everybody  in  our  case  is  completely  tired  out,  but 
I  believe  I  am  wiser  than  the  rest  to  retreat  to  the  coun- 
try. I  shall  come  up  (D.  V.)  on  the  Saturday  morning 
train.  *  *  * 

"Tonight  is  the  New  England  Dinner,  and  I  am  so 
delighted  that  I  am  not  in  that.  Do  you  remember  how 
I  served  there  for  2$  years  in  succession?  *  *  *  " 

Being  tired  out  he  was  glad  to  miss  the  annual  New 
England  dinner  for  once,  but  there  were  few  institutions 
in  New  York  to  which  his  attachment  had  been  so  strong, 
or  his  labors  for  it  more  constant.  He  was  several  times 
president  of  the  New  England  Society,  attended  all  its 
dinners  for  twenty-five  years  and  spoke  at  most  of  them, 
and  kept  on  going  and  speaking  for  many  years  after 
the  date  of  the  letter  above. 

The  dinners  were  held  on  Forefathers'  Day,  the  22d 
of  December.  When  the  New  England  Society  started 
in  Brooklyn  in  1880,  their  dinner  was  on  December  21. 


386  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

Mr.  Choate  went  to  it  as  the  messenger  from  the  paren 
society  of  New  York,  and  told  them  about  the  first  Ne 
England  dinner  he  went  to.     His  whole  discourse  is 
good  an  example  as  another  of  his  manner  and  the  sub- 
stance of  his  remarks  on  these  occasions. 

"Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen:  I  have  been  sen 
here  tonight  by  your  parent  society,  The  New  Englanc 
Society  of  New  York,  to  welcome  into  existence  this 
infant  prodigy,  which  has  grown  to  full  manhood,  or 
womanhood,  in  the  first  night  of  its  existence.  Why 
you  have  accomplished  as  much  in  one  twenty-four  hours 
as  we  in  the  deadly  struggle  of  the  seventy-five  years 
of  our  career.  And  this  too  in  Brooklyn — the  dormitory 
of  New  York.  Well,  it  shows  how  much  good  there  is 
in  sleep.  It  shows  how  true  those  eulogies  are  which 
all  the  poets  have  exhausted  upon  sleep: 

"  'Sleep  that  knits  up  the  ravel'd  sleeve  of  care, 
The  death  of  each  day's  life,  sore  labor's  bath, 
Balm  of  hurt  minds,  great  nature's  second  course, 
Chief  nourisher  in  life's  feast.' 

"And  yet,  gentlemen,  it  gives  a  death-blow  to  som 
of  the  esteem  and  consideration  in  which  we  on  the  othe 
side  of  the  river  have  been  in  the  habit  of  holding  ou 
brethren  and  neighbors  of  Brooklyn.  Seeing  you  as  w 
have,  year  after  year  for  the  last  seventy-five  years,  com 
ing  as  modest  partakers  of  the  viands  that  we  set  before 
you  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  we  had  come  to  look 
upon  you  as  modest,  unassuming,  self-denying  descen 
dants  of  the  Pilgrims  and  worthy  followers  in  their  foot 
steps.  But  this  declaration  of  independence  of  your 
puts  entirely  a  new  face  upon  the  situation.     Where  is 


! 


I 


THE  EIGHTIES  387 

your  long  asserted  modesty?  Why,  the  most  sublime 
instance  that  I  have  ever  known  or  heard  of,  of  a  modest, 
self-denying  descendant  of  the  sons  of  the  Pilgrims  was 
exhibited  by  a  Brooklynite.  He  has  since  become  a  great 
Congregational  clergyman.  I  name  no  names,  for  names 
are  always  invidious.  It  was  in  his  younger  days,  after 
he  had  completed  his  course  of  instruction  and  was 
ready  to  take  upon  himself  the  sacred  orders,  and  he 
presented  himself  before  the  dignified  conference  that 
was  to  pass  upon  his  qualifications,  and  the  moderator 
put  to  him  that  great  orthodox  question,  the  text  of  which 
every  candidate  was  expected  to  stand:  'Sir/  said  the 
moderator,  'are  you  willing  to  be  saved  by  consenting 
to  be  damned  for  the  glory  of  God?'  And  the  sublime 
answer  that  he  gave  justified  the  great  reputation  that 
he  afterwards  attained.  'No,'  said  he,  'Mr.  Moderator, 
but  I  am  perfectly  willing  that  you  should  be!' 

"Another  thing  that  we  notice,  Mr.  President,  is  that 
you  have  selected  the  21st  of  December  for  your  cele- 
bration instead  of  the  22nd.  General  Sherman  has  been 
charitable  enough  to  suppose  that  it  is  because  there  is 
a  doubt  on  which  of  these  days  the  Pilgrims  landed.  We 
believe,  on  the  contrary,  that  you  have  selected  the  21st 
simply  because  we  have  selected  the  22nd,  or  possibly 
at  this  late  hour  of  the  evening  we  may  be  excused,  not 
for  considering  it  doubtful  whether  they  landed  on  the 
2 1  st  or  22nd,  but  for  firmly  believing  that  they  landed 
on  both  days.  Gentlemen,  it  is  a  very  serious  question — 
this  complication  and  reduplication  of  New  England 
festivals.  The  wheels  of  the  Federal  Government,  as 
you  perceive,  must  necessarily  be  stopped  until  both 
these  days  are  celebrated.  For  one  I  believe  that  the 
great  welfare  of  this  people  would  be  promoted  if  the 


388  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


ite, 


event  could  be  celebrated  on  all  the  365  days  of  the  ye 
If  not  only  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  Stat 
and  the  General  of  the  armies,  but  all  the  holders  of  office 
from  them  down  to  the  lowest  tidewaiter  could  be  fed 
every  day  upon  your  simple  fare  of  pork  and  beans  and 
codfish  and  Indian  pudding — why  it  would  solve  imme- 
diately that  great  problem  of  civil  service  reform  which 
has  vexed  so  much  the  patience  of  this  Administration 
and  would  give  a  free  course  over  which  their  successors 
might  gloriously  win.  But  it  is  a  great  thing  to  have 
two  dinners  only  if  we  cannot  have  the  three  hundred 
and  sixty-five.  It  is  a  splendid  thing  to  bring  General 
Sherman  here,  whose  little  army  has  now  only  to  fight 
Indians,  that  he  may  learn  at  the  shrine  of  Miles  Stan- 
dish,  who  had  nobody  but  Indians  to  fight,  and  put  them 
all  to  rout  with  his  little  trained  band  of  thirteen  men. 
You  may  depend  upon  it  that  on  Thursday  morning 
at  any  rate  the  Secretary  of  State  will  return  to  his  great  | 
duties  at  Washington,  after  partaking  of  both  these  fes- 
tivals, a  fatter  and  a  better  man. 

"Mr.  President,  one  of  the  most  interesting  reflections 
that  occurs  to  any  thoughtful  mind  on  gazing  around 
upon  such  a  company  as  this  is  to  compare  these  sleek, 
well  fed,  self-satisfied  and  mutually  contented  men  with 
what  they  were  when  they  started  out  from  New  Eng- 
land. Archimedes,  brandishing  his  lever,  said  if  you 
could  give  him  a  place  to  stand  on,  he  would  move  the 
world,  and  so  the  genuine  emigrant  from  New  England 
says:  'Give  me  but  room  for  my  feet,  and  plenty  of  elbow 
room,  and  I  will  make  all  the  world  about  me  mine.' 
It  is  told  traditionally — I  believe  it  is  true — of  one  of 
the  first  pioneers  from  New  England  to  this  good  old 
City  of  Brooklyn  that  when  he  presented  his  letters 


- 


THE  EIGHTIES  389 

the  counting  room  at  which  he  sought  admission,  the 
lordly  proprietor  of  the  establishment  asked  him,  'Why, 
what  in  the  world  are  all  you  Yankee  boys  coming  here 
for?'  'Sir,'  said  he,  with  that  modest  assurance  that 
marked  the  whole  tribe,  'we  are  coming  to  attend  to 
your  business,  to  marry  your  daughters  and  take  charge 

I  of  your  estate.'  I  believe,  sir,  that  the  descendants  of 
that  hero  are  still  here  and  still  have  that  estate  in  charge, 
and  if  not  they,  why  all  these  gentlemen  about  you  rep- 

:  resent  the  same  personal  application  of  that  experience 
and  of  that  rule. 

"Now,  gentlemen,  on  behalf  of  the  parent  society 
that  I  represent,  I  wish  you  Godspeed.  You  cannot 
do  better  than  thus  as  you  have  begun,  to  eat  and  drink 
your  way  back  to  Plymouth  Rock.  It  is  the  true  way 
to  celebrate  the  memory  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  Do 
not  have  any  long  orations.  They  nearly  killed  the  parent 
society;  and  let  me  tell  you  a  very  interesting  reminis- 
cence, for  one  who  has  eaten  twenty-five  New  England 
dinners  in  succession  at  the  New  York  table,  may  in- 
dulge in  one  reminiscence.  It  was  the  first  celebration 
that  I  ever  attended  twenty-five  years  ago,  in  the  City 
of  New  York,  and  we  had  an  oration  and  the  very  narra- 
tion of  what  there  occurred  shows  what  wondrous  progress 

'  the  principles  of  the  Pilgrims  have  made  in  the  last  quar- 
ter of  a  century.     It  was  in  the  old  Church  of  the  Puri- 

'  tans,  on  Union  Square,  that  has  given  place  to  that  palace 
of  art  that  is  known  by  the  name  of  Tiffany's.     There 

\  came  one  of  the  great  and  shining  lights  of  Boston's  in- 
tellect, Dr.  Holmes,  giving  us  the  best  exposition  that  he 
could  give  of  what  my  friend,  Mr.  Hale,  describes  as 
Boston  intensity,  overshadowed  with  Boston  conser- 
vatism.    He  appealed  to  them,  to  the  white  blood  that 


390  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

ran  in  their  veins,  to  stand  by  their  white  brethren  when 
ever  there  should  come  the  conflict  of  races  in  this  land 
And  I  remember  the  cold  chill  that  ran  through  the  as 
sembled  company  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  New  Eng 
land  when  he  took  his  seat.  But,  fortunately,  there  rose 
up  after  him  that  grand  old  chip  of  Plymouth  Rock,  sten 
old  John  Pierrepont,  who  had  himself  suffered  persecu 
tion  in  the  very  city  of  Boston  of  which  we  are  so  proud 
and  as  those  glowing  stanzas  fell  from  his  lips  he  firec 
the  hearts  of  that  congregation  with  his  prophetic  ut- 
terances. I  remember  the  stanza  with  which  he  closed 
which  no  one  who  heard  him,  it  seemed  to  me,  couI< 
ever  forget,  when  he  invoked  the  aid  of  the  Almighty 
to  inspire  the  hearts  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  th( 
Pilgrims  to  be  true  to  their  fathers.     Said  he: 

"  'Oh,  thou  Holy  One,  and  just, 
Thou  who  wast  the  Pilgrims'  trust, 
Thou  who  watchest  o'er  their  dust 

By  the  moaning  sea; 
By  their  conflicts,  toils,  and  cares, 
By  their  perils  and  their  prayers, 
By  their  ashes,  make  their  heirs 
True  to  them  and  Thee.' 

"The  cold  fatalism  of  the  orator  was  lost  and  forgotten 
but  that  burning  prophecy  of  the  poet  lives  today.     We 
see  its  fruits  in  a  land  redeemed  from  slavery,  in  a  na- 
tion starting  on  an  imperishable  career  of  glory,  where 
equal  liberty  and  equal  law  are  secure  to  all  men  of  al 
color  and  of  every  race." 

Four  years  earlier  President  Grant,  then  nearing  th( 
close  of  his  second  term,  was  a  guest  of  the  New  York 
New  Englanders  at  their  dinner,  and  Mr.  Choate  was 


THE  EIGHTIES  391 

pushed  to  the  front  to  respond,  apparently,  to  the  toast 
"The  Pilgrim  Fathers."  His  remarks  will  still  bear  read- 
ing, which,  to  be  sure,  is  true  of  his  remarks  in  general. 
He  said,  as  the  next  morning's  paper  reported  him: 

"I  hardly  know,  Mr.  President,  to  what  I  owe  it  that 
I  have  been  selected  to  speak  to  this  memorial  toast, 
which  was  always  wont  to  be  assigned  to  some  learned 
divine  or  some  renowned  statesman.  Possibly  it  is  to 
the  fact  that  now  for  twenty-one  successive  years  I  have 
faithfully  partaken  of  the  coarse  fare  of  the  Pilgrims 
as  reproduced  by  Stetson  or  Delmonico  at  these  annual 
dinners.  Certainly  a  majority  so  fairly  earned  by  such 
devout  diet  and  digestion  might  have  a  worse  reward. 
Shakespeare  tells  us  of  those  who  'have  been  at  a  great 
feast  of  languages,  and  stolen  the  scraps,'  and  I  can  as- 
sure you  that  crumbs  thus  pilfered  from  your  own  tables 
are  all  you  will  get  from  me.  Seriously,  however,  these 
pious  banquets  afford  no  mean  field  for  the  study  of  human 
nature,  and  no  man  in  the  country,  however  exalted  his 
station,  can  claim  to  have  completely  finished  his  educa- 
tion until  he  has  attended  at  least  one  New  England 
dinner  in  New  York. 

"It  was  doubtless  this  sage  reflection  that  has  led 
hither  tonight  the  august  footsteps  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States.  It  was  not  enough  for  him  to  have 
led  grand  armies,  and  to  have  achieved  magnificent  vic- 
tories— to  have  first  saved  and  then  governed  a  nation 
of  forty  millions  of  freemen — unless  he  could  once  kneel 
at  the  shrine  of  the  Pilgrims  and  study  his  own  great 
trade  of  war  with  Capt.  Miles  Standish,  and  the  art  of 
free  government  with  Winthrop  and  Bradford;  and 
even  he,  I  think,  can  learn  something  here,  and  may 


392  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

possibly  find  by  the  contemplation  of  the  occasion  an 
the  company,  some  reason  for  revising,  not  to  say  co 
recting,  his  own  favorite  views  as  recently  expounde 
In  pressing  upon  the  country  the  urgent  necessity  f< 
a  speedy  return  to  the  use  of  hard  money,  of  which  h 
has  been  the  proper  and  consistent  champion,  he  h 
been  pleased  to  represent  inflation  as  the  source  of  un- 
mixed evil  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  tha 
there  is  no  health  or  happiness  in  it.     But  he  has  no 
only  to  look  before  him  to  behold  a  striking  argumen 
to  the  contrary,  and  to  see  two  or  three  hundred  re 
resentative  men  of  the  great  commercial  metropolis  wh 
have  been  undergoing  for  three  mortal  hours  a  systemati 
and  forced  process  of  inflation,  and  who  for  all  that  and 
because  of  all  that  are  as  happy  and  as  healthy  as  th 
lot  of  humanity  will  admit.     These  well-rounded  form 
this  sea  of  upturned  faces,  so  beaming  and  so  smiling, 
all  belong  to  practical  inflationists  for  the  time  bein 
who  would  have  scouted  and  stoutly  resisted  any  a 
tempt  at  contraction  while  engaged  at  these  tables.    So 
too,  he  has  lost  no  opportunity  to  declare  that  an  irre 
deemable   currency   is   inconsistent   with   true   financial 
credit  and  prosperity,  but  here  before  him  is  a  great  com- 
pany, mostly  of  merchants,  filled  almost  to  overflowing 
with  the  soft  currency  of  Delmonico,  which  is  certainly 
irredeemable,  and  who  can  doubt  their  credit  or  thei 
prosperity? 

"But  I  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  grand  and  sobe 
theme  of  the  hour,  which  is  no  less  than  Plymouth  Rock 
— that  historic  bowlder  which  the  far-reaching  schem 
of  Providence,  in  shaping  the  destiny  of  nations,  trans 
ported  in  some  remote  glacial  period  from  the  froze] 
regions  of  the  North  to  the  harbor  of  Plymouth,  to  b 


THE  EIGHTIES  393 

the  stepping-stone  of  the  Pilgrims  to  glory.  My  his- 
torical studies,  Mr.  President,  have  led  me  to  discover 
a  certain  likeness  of  character  in  all  the  rocks  about  which 
for  any  reason  the  sentiments  or  the  feelings  of  man- 
kind have  clustered.  They  are  few  in  number.  You 
can  easily  count  them  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand.  Rome 
had  her  Tarpeian  Rock,  England  the  matchless  Gibraltar, 
Ireland,  which  must  always  have  something,  has  her 
shamrock,  and  we  of  New  England  the  imperishable 
stone,  about  which,  in  imagination,  we  gather  tonight, 
and  I  think  the  comparison  is  obvious  between  our  own 
and  each  of  theirs.  All  strangers  who  arrive  at  Rome 
are  found  flocking  next  morning  to  the  summit  of  the 
Capitoline  Hill  to  gaze  upon  that  rocky  ridge,  so  dear 
to  the  dreams  of  the  school-boy,  within  whose  recesses 
the  fabled  Tarpeia  still  sits,  buried  beneath  the  avalanche 
of  gold  and  jewels  with  which  the  Sabines  rewarded  her 
treachery,  and  from  whose  top  the  Romans  hurled  to 
destruction  the  victims  of  their  national  vengeance.  Cer- 
tainly our  stone  itself  is  far  more  precious  than  the  gold 
and  pearls  of  Tarpeia,  and  who  can  deny  that  the  high- 
strung  morality  of  New  England  has  used  it  for  a  similar 
purpose?  There  is  this  difference,  to  be  sure,  that  since 
Plymouth  Rock  came  up  by  the  roots  and  was  trans- 
planted into  the  public  square  of  the  village,  New  Eng- 
land hurls  it  bodily  at  those  whom  she  condemns  and 
every  true  New  Englander  has  armed  himself  with  a 
chip  of  it,  to  fling  in  the  faces  of  all  who  savor  of  ungod- 
liness, or  otherwise  arouse  his  saintly  wrath — but  whether 
dashed  in  pieces  at  the  foot  of  the  rock,  or  crushed  be- 
neath it,  is  all  the  same  to  the  victim. 

"And  then,  as  for  Gibraltar,  the  darling  treasure  of 
the  British  heart,  honeycombed  with  batteries,  and  bris- 


it 


394  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

tling  with  great  guns  from  sea  to  sky,  against  which 
the  enemies  of  England  in  turn  have  butted  their  hea 
in  vain,  and  ended  by  saluting  it  in  honor,  how  true 
picture  of  the  history  of  our  own  more  modest  rock,  again 
which  the  prejudices,  the  jealousies,  and  the  hatreds 
every  hostile  interest  and  sentiment  in  the  whole  cou 
try  used  to  batter  themselves,  to  no  purpose,  but  at  las 
in  the  healing  of  hereditary  strifes  and  sectional  discord 
they  have  joined  hands  in  applauding  it,  and  now  cheris 
it  with  pious  solicitude  as  a  national  treasure.  The 
once  even  threatened  to  shut  it  out  in  the  cold,  but  now 
from  all  quarters  they  come  flocking  in  on  the  22nd  of 
December  to  warm  their  hearts  and  hands  in  the  blaze 
of  its  brightening  glory. 

"And  last  of  all,  the  shamrock — shall  we  not,  no 
that  we  are  all  here  alone  and  no  reporters  are  present 
shall  we  not,  whispering  in  each  other's  ears,  confess 
that  even  Plymouth  Rock  has  a  faint  shadow  of  a  shade 
of  sham  about  it?  Now  that  school  is  out  we  don't  mind 
owning  that  we  can  give  our  friends  of  St.  Patrick's  a 
heavy  discount  at  the  game  of  brag  and  beat  them  on 
their  own  terms.  But  enough  of  this  rocky  subject.  Hugh 
Miller's  study  of  the  rocks  is  said  to  have  made  him  mad. 
I  hope  that  this  little  study  of  mine  in  the  same  direction 
will  have  had  no  such  effect  on  any  of  you. 

"But  I  must  return  to  the  subject  of  the  toast — th 
day  we  celebrate.  I  have  sometimes  wondered,  M 
President,  how  the  sons  of  the  Pilgrims,  if  brought  bad 
in  the  eighth  generation,  after  the  lapse  of  250  years, 
to  undergo  the  perils  and  hardships  of  that  wintry  voyage 
in  the  Mayflower,  and  the  deadly  sufferings  that  followed 
the  landing,  would  have  stood  it  all.  The  present  officers 
of  the  society  may  serve  as  examples.     Imagine,  for  i 


1 


• 


THE  EIGHTIES  395 

stance,  Gentlemen,  our  worthy  retiring  President,  Mr. 
Bailey,  carried  back  over  the  gulf  of  time,  appearing 
as  one  of  the  armed  followers  of  Capt.  Standish  in  his 
monthly  raid  against  the  surrounding  savages,  or  measur- 
ing out,  with  Elder  Brewster,  with  the  acquired  skill 
of  a  Commissioner  of  Charities,  the  scanty  rations  among 
the  new  immigrants,  the  thermometer  at  fifteen  degrees 
below  zero,  and  no  shelter  anywhere  but  the  Mayflower 
and  the  rock.  You  would  have  to  put  on  him  a  steeple- 
crowned  hat,  of  course,  to  give  him  anything  of  a  churchly 
or  religious  look,  but  so  transformed  and  translated, 
who  shall  say  but  that  he  would  not  have  made  a  very 
passable  Pilgrim?  And  then  Col.  Borden,  our  President 
elect,  I  owe  him  one  and  am  glad  before  he  mounts  the 
throne  to  pay  it  off  in  kind.  I  understand  he  said,  when 
informed  of  his  election  as  President  of  this  Society  that 
if  they  expected  him  to  make  long  speeches  without  say- 
ing anything,  they  had  got  the  wrong  man,  and  that  in 
his  last  three  predecessors  they  had  had  enough  of  that. 
But  imagine  our  new  President  in  that  first  winter  at 
Plymouth,  when  the  common  larder  of  the  Pilgrims  was 
reduced  so  low  as  to  afford  only  a  handful  of  Indian  corn 
to  each  man  per  day;  how  long  do  you  think  he  would 
have  retained  his  rotund  and  rosy  visage?  Perhaps  in 
the  contemplation  of  such  an  empty  feast,  even  his  tongue 
would  have  gladly  dropped  manna,  as  Milton  says.  But 
of  all  the  men  of  this  generation,  I  am  sure  that  our  worthy 
and  venerable  Secretary  would  have  been  most  at  home 
at  Plymouth  in  1620.  Can  you  not  see  him  in  your  mind's 
eye,  taking  his- daily  round  among  the  new  settlers,  and 
even  extending  his  visits  to  the  neighboring  Indian  tribes? 
Why,  he  would  have  been  just  the  man  for  the  occasion, 
and  would  have  sustained  the  arms  of  the  ruling  Elders 


396  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

as  stoutly  as  he  has  held  up  those  of  our  succeeding  Presi 
dents,  from  Grinnell  to  Bailey.  In  his  presence,  I  ai 
sure,  grim-visaged  war  would  have  smoothed  his  wrinklec 
front,  and  a  new  Indian  policy  would  have  prevails 
I  can  see  him  now,  visiting,  catalogue  in  hand,  the  wij 
warns  of  the  Pequots,  the  Narragansetts,  and  the  Naui 
keags,  satisfying  them  all  of  the  great  usefulness  of  th< 
New  England  Society  and  of  the  extreme  important 
of  joining  its  ranks.  In  a  few  short  months  he  woulc 
have  had  every  mother's  son  of  them  enrolled,  and 
perhaps  have  advanced  the  march  of  civilization  a  cei 
tury  at  least.  The  picture  gains  upon  me  so  that  whei 
ever  I  see  him  coming  'round  for  the  annual  assessmei 
I  almost  regret  that  he  had  not,  indeed,  been  present  a1 
the  landing. 

"I  have  thus  spoken,  Mr.  President,  lightly,  but  no1 
irreverently,  to  this  time-honored  toast.     Had  not  these 
more  important  considerations  pressed  upon  my  mind, 
I  should  have  told  in  sober  earnest  of  the  great  results 
that  have  grown  from  the  little  seed  that  the  Pilgrims 
planted;    how  vastly  grander  these  results  have  beei 
than  even  their  pious  hearts  conceived;  how  their  grate 
ful  descendants  have  reaped  from  their  toils  and  sacrifice 
an  overwhelming  harvest  of  plenty  and  of  bliss;    ho^ 
the  system  of  education  and  the  gospel  of  hard  work, 
of  which  they  set  the  example  and  which  they  transmitted 
to  their  posterity,  triumphing  over  their  own  dark  supei 
stitions   and   obsolete   theology,    have   transformed   the 
austere  and  gloomy  life  of  New  England  as  it  was  in  theii 
day  into  the  fair  sunshine  of  knowledge,  prosperity  ane 
happiness  which  illumines   it  now.     But  time   forbid* 
and   I    will   only   say,   in   conclusion,   that  the   Pilgrii 
Fathers,  in  laying  Plymouth  Rock  as  the  corner-stoi 


THE  EIGHTIES  397 

of  that  great  moral  edifice  which  has  grown  up  around 
it  and  upon  it  like 

"  'The  hand  that  rounded  Peter's  dome 
And  groined  the  aisles  of  Christian  Rome, 
Wrought  in  a  sad  sincerity. 
Themselves  from  God  they  could  not  free, 
They  builded  better  than  they  knew, 
The  conscious  stone  to  beauty  grew/ 

Mr.  Choate  in  1888  was  pretty  well  at  the  top  of  his 
professional  activities.  He  no  sooner  got  out  from  under 
one  heavy  load  than  he  shouldered  another.  Yet  he 
did  not  even  spare  himself  in  minor  labors  as  appears 
when  he  writes  to  his  wife  on  the  3d  of  January,  1888: 

"  *  *  *  Bearing  in  mind  George's  anxiety  that  Mr. 
Herrel  should  not  put  in  his  appearance  in  Stockbridge 
until  the  De  Gersdorffs  had  left,  I  routed  myself  out 
at  seven,  and  intercepted  him  at  the  depot,  so  that  he 
should  come  tomorrow  instead  of  today.  *  *  *  " 

Some  men  heavily  burdened  with  work  in  their  offices 
absolutely  exempt  themselves  from  household  chores 
and  cares.  Not  so  with  Mr.  Choate.  We  find  him  doing 
all  his  life,  except  in  some  extremity  of  application,  the 
kind  of  things  he  saw  done  in  Salem  when  he  was  a  boy. 
He  was  brought  up  to  do  his  own  work;  he  never  got 
over  it.  He  was  brought  up  to  see  the  head  of  the  house 
share  the  labors  of  the  house;  he  never  got  over  that 
either. 

Even  in  the  greatest  stress  of  his  professional  work 
he  was  all  the  time  doing  outside  jobs — talking  at  dinners, 
talking  on  other  occasions  when  he  felt  he  owed  discourse. 
"No  man  of  today  who  has  a  light  can  hide  it  under  a 


398  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

bushel."  So  he  started  his  remarks  at  the  annual  re- 
union of  the  Alpha  Delta  Phi  Fraternity  on  May  3,  1888. 
He  might  have  been  speaking  of  himself,  but  he  was  not. 
He  was  president  of  the  fraternity  and  had  been  called 
upon  to  speak  at  its  reunion  and  he  was  speaking  on  an 
occasion — not  very  important,  but  important  enough  to 
enlist  his  help. 

"Whoever  thinks,"  he  said,  "if  his  thoughts  amount 
to  anything,  thinks  for  a  nation,  and  when  a  really  great 
man  speaks,  he  speaks  to  all  the  world. 

"A  striking  illustration  of  this  condition  of  things,  of 
this  supreme  power  and  responsibility  of  the  great  scholar 
today,  has  been  furnished  us  within  the  past  month  by 
the  almost  simultaneous  utterance,  on  the  two  sides  of 
the  Atlantic,  of  profound  and  searching  criticisms  by 
England's  foremost  writer  and  critic  and  by  America's 
greatest  scholar  and  poet,  in  which  they  discuss  our  pres- 
ent condition — the  one  with  regard  to  the  state  of  our 
politics,  the  other  as  to  our  place  in  what  he  calls  the 
higher  civilization.  The  one  of  these  great  men  speaks 
on  a  New  York  platform,  and  the  other  writes  almost 
at  the  same  moment  in  an  English  magazine;  and  straight- 
way all  England  and  America  are  set  to  thinking  upon 
what  they  say.  The  words  of  each  of  these  men  cut  deep, 
and  if  you  will  compare  them  with  the  daily  jargon  which 
is  now  being  poured  out  in  Congress  on  either  side  of 
the  tariff  question,  which  nobody  reads  at  all,  or  with 
the  bouts  of  senatorial  prize-fighters,  which  nobody  ought 
to  read,  you  will  realize  how  broad  and  grand  is  the  theatre 
in  which  the  scholar  and  the  thinker  plays  his  part.  *  *  * 
I  call  your  attention  to  these  two  utterances  because  al 
though  at  first  blush  their  combined  effect  seems  a  little 
discouraging  to  the  pride  or  vanity  of  the  patriotic  Amer 


THE   EIGHTIES  399 

ican,  a  more  careful  perusal  leaves  upon  the  mind  a  most 
hopeful  view  of  our  affairs,  and  of  the  possibilities  of  our 
future. 

"  It  so  happened  that  only  two  years  before,  Mr.  Arnold, 
in  a  previous  article  on  America,  had  given  us  politically 
and  socially  a  clean  bill  of  health,  and  had  declared  with 
great  emphasis  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  had 
solved  the  political  problem  and  the  social  problem  with 
undeniable  success.  And  as  if  anticipating  Mr.  Lowell's 
somewhat  gloomy  apprehensions  about  corruption  in 
our  public  life  and  about  our  practical  politics  breeding 
only  a  race  of  small  politicians,  he  had  used  this  remark- 
able language:  'The  Americans  themselves  use  such 
strong  language  in  describing  the  corruption  prevalent 
among  them  that  they  cannot  be  surprised  if  strangers 
believe  them.  For  myself,  I  had  heard  and  read  so 
much  to  the  discredit  of  American  political  life — how  all 
the  best  men  kept  aloof  from  it,  and  those  who  gave 
themselves  to  it  were  unworthy — that  I  ended  by  sup- 
posing that  the  thing  must  actually  be  so,  and  that  the 
good  Americans  must  be  looked  for  elsewhere  than  in 
politics/  But  when  he  came  here  he  said  that  'at  one 
dinner  in  Washington  I  met  half  a  dozen  politicians 
whom  in  England  we  should  pronounce  to  be  Members 
of  Parliament  of  the  highest  class,  in  bearing,  manners, 
tone  of  feeling,  intelligence  and  information.  And  I 
discovered  that  in  truth  the  practice  so  common  in 
America  of  calling  a  politician  "a  thief"  does  not  mean 
so  very  much  more  than  is  meant  in  England  when  we 
have  heard  Lord  Beaconsfield  called  a  "liar"  and  Mr. 
Gladstone  a  "madman."  It  means  that  the  speaker  dis- 
agrees with  the  politician  and  dislikes  him.' 

"Now,  Mr.  Arnold  was  a  warm  friend  to  America, 


400  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

and  had  many  warm  friends  here,  and  it  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  his  death  is  lamented  here  as  sincerely  as 
it  is  in  England;  and  when  you  read  his  last  article,  his 
dying  message  to  America,  although  he  too  uses  strong 
language  when  he  says  that  'in  what  concerns  the  higher 
civilization  we  live  in  a  fooPs  paradise,'  he  concedes, 
you  see,  that  for  those  who  live  in  it,  it  is  still  a  Paradise, 
and  you  necessarily  draw  very  great  encouragement 
from  the  meagre  facts  which  he  states  in  support  of  this 
theory.  The  lack  of  beauty  and  the  lack  of  distinction 
are  all  that  he  alleges,  and  when  he  gives  his  specifica- 
tions for  these  charges,  he  is  open  in  part  at  least  to  con- 
tradiction. When  he  found  no  interesting  landscapes, 
he  tried  the  impossible  task  of  framing  an  indictment 
against  a  continent.  When  he  found  no  beauty  here, 
it  must  have  been  for  lack  of  opportunity,  for  evidently 
he  had  never  been  at  a  reunion  like  this.  Then,  when 
he  surveyed  our  historical  public  characters  and  found 
that  Washington  alone  had  what  he  calls  distinction, 
and  that  Lincoln,  with  all  his  great  and  good  qualities, 
for  which  he  gives  him  full  credit,  had  not  what  he  calls 
distinction,  we  perceive  that  it  is  a  kind  of  distinction 
which  we  can  very  well  do  without,  and  still  find  many 
a  great  American  interesting  to  ourselves,  his  country- 
men.* 

"And  we  leave  Mr.  Lowell  to  answer  him  for  us,  by 
saying,  as  he  does :  '  I  am  thankful  to  have  been  the  con- 
temporary of  one  among  the  greatest  of  men,  of  whom 
I  think  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no  other  country  and  no 
other  form  of  government  could  have  fashioned  him, 

*  Lincoln's  distinction  has  since  penetrated  England.  It  has  become  par- 
ticularly noticeable  since  the  publication  of  Lord  Charnwood's  life  and  the  im- 
portation to  New  York  of  Mr.  Drinkwater's  notable  and  successful  play. 


THE   EIGHTIES  401 

and  whom  posterity  will  recognize  as  the  wisest  and  the 
most  bravely  human  of  modern  times.  It  is  a  benedic- 
tion to  have  lived  in  the  same  age  and  country  with 
Abraham  Lincoln.  Had  democracy  borne  only  this  con- 
summate flower  and  then  perished  like  the  century-plant 
it  would  have  discharged  its  noblest  function/  Thus 
in  a  multitude  of  critics  as  of  counsellors,  there  is  safety; 
and  though  we  must  plead  guilty  to  a  want  of  cathedrals 
and  of  abbeys  and  parish  churches,  and  of  everything 
else  which  has  come  down  from  a  remote  antiquity,  and 
to  an  unbridled  and  licentious  press  which  invades  the 
sanctity  of  every  home  and  the  privacy  of  every  life, — 
though  the  game  of  brag  is  still  our  popular  game,  and 
almost  nobody  ventures  to  condemn  it — yet  if  these 
are  all  that  makes  America  unfit  to  live  in,  they  are  but 
faults  and  blemishes  which  time,  we  hope,  will  cure; 
and  in  the  meanwhile,  until  we  can  make  it  better,  we 
must  be  content  with  America  as  a  tolerable  place  for 
Americans  to  live  in,  and  thank  God  for  that.  Mr.  Lowell 
frankly  concedes  that  we  are  suffering  no  evils  but  those 
which  time  and  faith  will  cure." 

To  His  Wife 

"Washington,  D.  C.  Feby.  13,  1888. 
"  *  *  *  Court  did  not  take  me  long  today  as  there 
seemed  no  chance  of  my  case  being  reached,  so  I  came 
back  to  my  hotel  &  studied  the  Bischoffsheim  case.  While 
I  was  in  Court  the  Corean  Ambassadors  came  in — seven 
very  dignified  and  sober  copper-colored  men,  clad  in 
the  finest  light  colored  silks  very  blue  &  changeable, 
with  belts  &  high  buskins,  hair  hanging  down  in  long 
cues  under  steeple  crowned  black  straw  hats  tied  under 


402  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

their  chins  with  wide  black  ribbons.  I  thought  I  should 
like  to  see  our  nine  judges  change  gowns  with  them  & 
don  their  high  hats.  I  imagine  Judge  Gray  &  Judge 
Blatchford  &  the  rest  so  transformed!  How  it  would 
light  up  the  dull  and  gloomy  Court.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 

Mr.  Choate's  son  George  had  never  been  quite  so  strong 
as  his  other  children,  and  had  always  called  for  special 
care  and  thought.  Mr.  Choate  had  but  one  idea  about 
raising  boys;  that  was  to  put  them  through  the  same 
course  that  had  been  profitable  to  himself — to  send  them 
duly  to  school,  and  then  to  Harvard  College,  and  then 
to  the  next  place  where  they  could  get  whatever  further 
equipment  they  needed  for  life.  He  was  for  having  George 
take  the  usual  course.  When  he  seemed  not  quite  up 
to  it  he  helped  him  all  he  could  and  modified  the  course 
to  suit  him.  When  he  found  that  he  was  not  equal  to 
the  scholastic  requirements  of  Harvard  College,  he  looked 
around  for  the  next  best  place  and  determined  to  send 
him  to  Williams,  which  being  in  the  Berkshires  and  not 
far  from  Stockbridge,  seemed  near  home.  But  sad  to 
say  he  overestimated  George's  strength.  Whereas  he 
should  have  been  handled  with  care,  at  Williams  he  met 
with  quite  a  contrary  experience.  The  boys  hazed  him; 
he  broke  down  and  came  home  a  wreck.  He  got  better, 
but  was  never  afterwards  quite  equal  to  the  strains  of 
active  life.  He  lived  on  in  partial  retirement,  always 
an  object  of  affection  and  solicitude  to  his  father.  In 
Mr.  Choate' s  letters  to  his  wife  for  the  rest  of  his  life 
there  are  constant  allusions  to  George  and  evidences 
of  constant  thought  for  him.  He  carried  him  in  his  heart 
as  long  as  he  lived,  as  he  did  all  his  children,  never  ceas 


THE  EIGHTIES  403 

ing  to  think  about  them  and  plan  for  them,  to  be  happy 
in  them  when  he  could,  to  sorrow  for  them  when  he  had 
to.  His  son  Ruluffs  death,  this  calamity  that  befell 
George,  and  his  daughter  Josephine's  death  were  the 
great  misfortunes  of  a  life  that  seemed  in  other  respects 
extraordinarily  fortunate  and  happy. 

To  His  Wife 

"New  York,  June  1 6th, '88. 
"I  am  so  sorry  that  I  cannot  be  with  you  to  celebrate 
your  birthday,  but  it  is  a  great  comfort  to  me  to  think 
of  the  sweet  peace  and  relief  that  has  come  to  you  at 
last  after  all  your  trying  anxiety  and  trouble.  After  a 
refreshing  night's  sleep  I  feel  at  this  moment  more  com- 
fortable about  George  than  I  have  at  any  time  for  years, 
and  believe  that  his  own  happiness,  as  well  as  the  highest 
good  of  which  he  is  capable  has  been  greatly  promoted 
by  the  change.  *  *  *  " 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  9  October  1889. 
*  *  *  j  passed  Bishop  Potter's  wife  on  the  Sixth 
Avenue  and  she  said  she  was  as  well  as  any  woman  could 
be  who  was  entertaining  twelve  Bishops  at  dinner  every 
night  during  the  Convention.  I  suppose  he  has  to  do 
that  to  get  through  the  whole  list  before  the  Convention 
adjourns,  and  so,  the  Bishop's  is  not  entirely  a  bed  of 
roses. 

"Tonight  I  go  to  Mr.  Astor's  dinner  to  Mayor  Grant 
at  Delmonico's.  I  wonder  what  kind  of  an  affair  that 
will  be — doubtless  pretty  miscellaneous.  There  is  great 
rejoicing  in  the  office  over  the  decision  of  the  Post  cases 


404  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

in  the  Court  of  Appeals  at  Albany,  in  our  favor,  which 
puts  an  end  to  the  Post's  absurd  claim  against  us  for 
$100,000  damages  for  not  finding  the  deed  which  was 
said  to  have  been  in  our  office  for  40  years  but  lost  when 
it  was  wanted.  *  *  *  " 


(October  10.)  "Mr.  Astor's  dinner  last  night  proved 
to  be  a  splendid  affair.  Some  fifty  and  more  guests  sat 
down  at  a  round  table  in  the  large  dining  room  at  Del- 
monico's,  among  them  many  distinguished  and  many 
notorious  men.  In  the  centre  of  the  table  was  a  tall 
sumach  tree  in  the  full  colors  of  Autumn  and  a  huge  sheaf 
of  wheat,  and  the  whole  surface  of  the  table  covered 
with  autumnal  flowers  and  fruits  &  vegetables.  Hap- 
pily there  was  no  speaking  although  nearly  all  the  speakers 
were  there,  as  it  seemed  to  me.  The  dinner  was  of  course 
superb  and  without  limits,  and  not  too  long  as  I  got  home 
at  a  little  after  ten.  *  *  * 


J.  H.  C 


To  the  Same 


"Albany,  N.  Y.  17  Octr.  1889. 

"I  did  not  forget  the  day  yesterday,  though  so  busy 
from  morning  till  night  that  I  could  only  think  of  it  on 
the  wing  until  I  got  into  the  cars  to  come  to  Albany.  An 
appropriate  journey  to  take  on  the  day,  was  it  not?  Next 
me  was  a  young  couple  who  had  chosen  the  same  anni 
versary —  Their  heads  were  together  all  the  way.  So 
close.  Something  new  to  say  every  minute.  He  so  red, 
and  she  so  white.  They  could  hardly  keep  hands  off  of 
each  other,  and  were  ever  so  happy.  *  *  * 

"Mr.  G.  Tuckerman  kissed  me  yesterday  in  the  street. 


THE  EIGHTIES  405 

I  blushed  before  all  Eliot  is  laid  up  with  jaundice,  a  cruel 
thing  just  as  he  was  going  into  a  year  of  zealous  work. 
It  makes  one  so  feeble.  T   H   P " 

To  the  Same 

"Troy,  N.  Y.  11  Dec.  1889. 

"Mr.  Burden  has  provided  me  with  excellent  quar- 
ters at  the  Troy  Club — a  brand-new  Club  House,  which 
I  seem  to  have  pretty  much  to  myself — a  fine  corner 
room  with  lots  of  sunlight,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

"Our  case  went  on  today  at  the  City  Hall,  but  so  far 
as  I  can  see  it  is  likely  to  last  a  long  time  yet.  The  Bur- 
dens are  famous  for  protracted  law  suits.  The  father 
of  these  men  had  one  about  spikes  that  lasted  for  twenty 
years,  and  why  should  this  one  about  horse  shoes  come 
to  an  untimely  end?  *  *  * 

"How  did  you  get  along  with  Stickney?  And  did  he 
move  to  reconsider?  Certainly,  he  is  a  very  marvel  of 
persistency — not  to  say  obstinacy.  I  hope  you  were 
able  to  withstand  him  until  Beaman  arrived.  Don't 
you  think  Mrs.  Stickney  must  have  a  nice  time,  if  she 
aspires  to  'manage'  her  husband  as  thoroughly  as  you 
do  yours  ?  Really  we  don't  know  how  fortunate  we  are — 
do  we?  until  we  contrast  our  lot  with  other  people's. 

J.  H.  C" 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  NINETIES 


TYRANNY  OF  THINGS — CROKER — TO  A  SCHOOL-BOY — IN  WASHINGTON 
— BEHRING  SEA  CASE — STOCKBRIDGE  IN  MARCH — AQUEDUCT  CASE 
— LETTERS    FROM    STOCKBRIDGE — HOPKINS-SEARLES — TILDEN    WILL 

CASE — SEEN  AT   THE   PATRIARCHS* — A    DREAM CROWDING   WORK — 

IN  EUROPE — GREAT  OFFENSE  TO  THE  IRISH — A  SKETCH  FROM  THE 
"TRIBUNE" — AS  SEEN  BY  REPORTERS — THE  CHICAGO  FAIR — AMEND- 
ING THE  CONSTITUTION — A  MEDAL  TO  PRESIDENT  ELIOT — VANDER- 
BILT  DIVORCE  CASE — LAIDLAW  VS.  SAGE 

To  His  Wife 

"New  York,  17  June  1890. 
«  *  *  *    j  note  wnat  y0U  say  about  all  the  things  you 

want  me  to  do,  and  I  will  so  far  as  I  can.  The  plans  I 
will  send  tomorrow  after  looking  them  over  with  Effie. 
The  horses  I  am  seeing  about.  But  our  wants  increase 
so  rapidly,  and  it  seems  to  me  so  unnecessarily,  that 
my  fond  hopes  of  any  substantial  leisure  vanish  like  the 
horizon  before  me. 

"Your  birthday — Cannot  you  change  it  so  as  to  let 
us  enjoy  it  together?    I  thought  of  you  all  that  day  and 


regretted  that  I  was  so  far  away. 

To  the  Same 


*  *  * 


J.  H.  C." 


<t     *     *     * 


"New  York,  22  June  1890. 
You  will  be  surprised  to  hear  that  your  praise 
is  on  many  a  tongue  in  this  Club.  It  seems  that  on  their 
return  from  Stockbridge  last  summer,  Mr.  Cooper  then 
at  the  head  of  the  House  Committee,  introduced  '  boiled 

406 


THE  NINETIES  407 

fowl  and  pork'  'fish  cakes'  on  Sunday  morning  and  'corn 
bread'  all  of  which  have  become  very  popular  and  are 
known  by  your  name,  as  'Mrs.  Choate's  fish  cakes'  etc. 
So  you  see  that  your  hospitality  was  not  wasted.  *  *  * 

J,  H.  C" 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  24  June  1890. 
"  *  *  *  Today  I  have  not  been  near  Wall  St.  having 
taken  up  all  day  until  a  late  hour  with  the  examination 
of  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Croker.  The  Tammany  hordes  fairly 
swarmed  about  us,  and  when  it  was  over  I  had  to  go 
home  and  take  a  bath,  wash  off  the  fumes  of  Democracy 
with  which  I  was  reeking,  put  on  clean  clothes  and  come 
down  to  the  Club  and  take  a  good  dinner  with  Richard 
Butler  who  starts  alone  tonight  on  his  yachting  tour 
through  the  Lakes,  on  which  I  wished  so  much  to  join 
him.  *  *  *  " 


(June  26.)  "How  shall  I  answer  this  letter  from  the 
artist  of  the  Choate  Fountain?  Fig  leaf  or  no.  It  has 
an  'Hon.  mention'  at  the  Salon. 


J.  H.  C 


>j 


This  fountain,  the  Boy  and  the  Stork,  now  at  Stock- 
bridge,  was  one  of  MacMonnies's  first  works  made  when 
he  was  studying  in  Paris. 

To  the  Same 

"Albany,  August  1890. 
"  *  *  *    The  dinner  at  General  Sherman's  last  night 
was  a  very  quiet  affair.     Rich'd.  Butler,  Cyrus  Field, 


408 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


Judge  Endicott,  Mr.  Chamberlain,  Genl.  Howard  were 
the  party.     I  sat  on  the  Count's*  right  and  as  the  Gei 
eral  hadn't  much  to  say  to  him,  having  had  him  in  hi 
study  for  the  previous  two  hours,  I  had  him  all  to  m; 
self.    He  was  very  chatty,  and  appeared  to  be  well  postec 
on  all  familiar  subjects — a  very  agreeable  dinner  coi 
panion — not  at  all  remarkable  however  in  appearand 
or  any  way.    The  Due  d'Orleans  however  is  a  very  pr< 
sentable  young  fellow  and  I  should  think  might  captival 
the  people  sometime  or  other  if  he  had  a  chance.    The] 
have  already  left  New  York,  and  as  they  stay  here  bi 
30  days  their  programme  is  marked  out  for  every  da] 
Mr.  Depew  and  Mr.  Morton  declined  to  attend  the  dinn< 
because  of  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  Count  to  the  FrencI 
Republic.  *  *  *  T    H    C " 


To  the  Same 

"Albany,    14  Augt.    1890. 
*  *  *    Here  we  are  still  hopelessly  jabbering.    Bourk< 
Cockran  is  at  this  moment  making  over  again  his  h 
4th  of  July  oration,  which  nobody  in  particular  is  Ii 
tening  to,  while  I  am  looking  wistfully  out  of  Easten 
windows,  wondering  how  soon  I  can  get  back  to  Stock- 
bridge,  and  brush  those  Constitutional  cobwebs  out  of 
my  ears  and  brain. 

"Today  at  one  o'clock  we  have  voted  to  call  on  Go1" 
Hill  in  a  body.     Perhaps   for  such  a  visit  it  will 
pleasanter  to  be  merged  in  the  body  of  the  commif 


sion. 


*  *  * 


J.  H.  C." 


*  The  Comte  de  Paris. 


THE  NINETIES  409 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  Thursday  evening. 
n  *  *  *     I  saw  your  name  paraded  in  the  newspapers 
!  this  morning  with  those  of  many  other  distinguished 
women,  and  all  against  Tammany.    Certainly  that  ought 
!:  to  settle  the  matter  and  if  it  does,  why  should  not  the 
same  women  have  a  voice  under  Mayor  Scott  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  City?  *  *  *  T    FT    C " 

To  His  Son  at  School  at  Southboro 

"St.  Marc's  Hotel,  N.  Y. 

„,T     ^  T  Sunday,  Oct.  12,  1890. 

"My  Dearest  Jo:—  j  y 

"I  cannot  tell  you  how  lonesome  I  am  here  in  New 
York,  without  you  or  Mama,  or  the  girls.  I  had  intended 
to  spend  this  Sunday  with  Mr.  Cleveland*  at  his  home  in 
Orange,  but  at  the  last  moment  his  wife  was  taken  sick, 
and  so  he  had  to  countermand  his  invitation.  I  shall 
want  to  hear  all  about  your  school  and  how  you  get  on, 
and  hope  that  at  least  every  Sunday  you  will  write  a 
long  letter  home.  You  may  congratulate  yourself  that 
you  are  not  in  New  York,  where  everything  seems  to 
be  turned  topsy  turvy,  and  compared  with  Stockbridge 
or  Southboro  is  miserable  indeed.  Write  and  tell  me  what 
papers  you  want,  and  I  will  subscribe  for  them  at  once. 

"I  have  promised  to  speak  at  the  Anti-Tammany 
Ratification  meeting  at  the  Cooper  Institute  on  Tues- 
day evening,  where  I  suppose  there  will  be  a  great  hulla- 
balloo  (Is  that  spelt  right?). 

"I  think  of  you  all  the  time,  my  dear  boy,  and  you 

*  His  partner,  Treadwell  Cleveland. 


4io  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


have  no  idea  how  much  I  have  at  stake  in  your  welfare 
&  success. 

"  I  imagine  you  will  find  Homer  most  delightful  after 
the  first  few  lessons.  Don't  fail  to  use  your  whole  study 
hours  for  faithful  study. 

Ever  your  loving, 

Papa." 

To  His  Wife 

"New  York,  27  Oct.  1890. 

"  *  *  *     Not  much  is  talked  about  here  now  but  the 

City  Election.     We  hope  to  win,  but  Mr.  Southmayd 

says  the  'women's  movement  is  the  d — dest  bosh.' 

J.  H.  C. 


<<n  T  "Stockbridge,  3  Nov.   1890. 

"  *  *  *  I  met  Mr.  Carter  on  Saturday  with  a  huge 
bundle  under  his  arm.  'What  have  you  got  there?' 
said  I.  'Cartridges'  said  he,  and  then  he  told  me  that 
only  three  days  before  some  sportsmen  had  settled  down 
in  front  of  his  own  house  on  the  beach  at  Shinnecock 
and  shot  three  hundred  ducks,  and  he  seemed  to  think 
it  was  a  great  shame  that  other  people  should  have  the 
shooting  of  all  his  ducks.  So  he  was  bound  for  Shinne- 
cock over  Sunday  to  have  a  shy  at  them. 

"Mr.  Carter  and  I  have  great  fun  together,  as  you 
may  suppose,  having  been  so  long  acquainted  and  being 
thrown  so  closely  together  all  the  time. 

"He  has  taken  a  hand  with  us  in  fighting  Tammany, 
and  on  Friday  night  made  a  speech  at  the  Lenox  Lyceum, 
in  which  he  had  a  great  deal  to  say  about  the  '  rum  sellers ' 
in  the  Democratic  party.    'Not'  said  he  'that  there  may 


THE  NINETIES  411 

not  be  some  good  men  who  deal  in  intoxicating  liquors. 
There  must  be,'  he  added  'for  I  indulge  in  intoxicating 
liquors  myself.'  So  next  day  at  the  Down  Town  Club 
I  met  him  at  lunch  and  chaffed  him  a  good  deal  about 
his  mortifying  public  confession.  Just  then  his  waiter 
brought  him  a  huge  pitcher  of  what  looked  like  rum  punch. 
'Hallo'  said  I,  'are  you  going  to  follow  up  what  you  said 
last  night  by  getting  drunk?  That  will  be  consistent 
at  least.'  Then  he  really  blushed,  for  it  looked  very  much 
against  him,  but  the  truth  was  that  he  had  ordered  a 
pint  of  cider  cup,  but  the  waiter  had  made  a  mistake  and 
brought  him  a  quart  which  with  all  its  condiments  looked 
like  half  a  gallon. 

"You  would  have  laughed  just  now  when  the  break- 
fast gong  sounded  to  see  Don  and  Pixie.  They  were 
lying  together  on  the  rug  in  the  hall  while  I  was  writing 
here  in  the  library.  Up  they  jumped  and  came  frisking 
and  whining  about,  saying  as  plain  as  words  could  speak 
'Papa!  why  don't  you  come  to  breakfast?' 

"Tomorrow  morning  I  shall  go  back  to  New  York 
early  to  get  in  my  vote  against  Tammany.  I  hope  we 
shall  win  but  have  my  fears  and  doubts.  On  Thursday 
I  met  my  friend  and  client  Richard  Croker,  the  great 
boss  of  Tammany.  'Well'  said  I,  'are  you  going  to  beat 
us?'  'Oh,  yes,  easy'  said  he,  'Grant  will  have  40,000 
majority.'  I  told  him  I  thought  either  side  would  be 
lucky  which  got  as  much  as  five  or  ten  thousand  ma- 
jority. We  are  all  very  curious  to  see  the  working  of 
the  new  voting  law.  I  think  it  will  make  a  difference 
of  at  least  five  thousand  in  our  favor. 

"Don  was  lost  on  Saturday  but  is  found  again.  He 
was  locked  up  in  the  barn  all  night.    Ever  your, 

Papa." 


4i2  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"The  Union  League  Club, 

f  '  T  Sunday  evening,  Nov.  o,  1890. 

Dear  Jo: — 

"  *  *  *  Last  night  I  went  to  the  dinner  at  the  Fel- 
Iowcraft  Club,  made  up  exclusively  of  newspaper  an< 
magazine  men,  and  strange  to  say  the  only  club  in  New 
York  that  allows  no  reports  of  its  speeches  and  pro- 
ceedings. In  token  of  this,  huge  red  and  white  roses 
(artificial)  were  hung  above  the  table  when  the  speak- 
ing began  to  indicate  that  whatever  was  said  was  to  be 
sub  rosa.  So  everything  was  very  free  and  very  jolly. 
Of  course  I  had  to  speak,  and  discoursed  upon  the  Poet 
in  Politics,  apropos  of  the  frantic  efforts  of  Mr.  Gilder 
of  the  Century,  the  President — in  the  late  Campaign. 
At  about  eleven  in  came  Stanley  with  a  crew  who  had 
been  dining  him  at  the  Union  League,  including  General 
Greeley  of  Arctic  fame  and  Mr.  Depew.  Stanley,*  whose 
pictures  give  you  a  very  good  idea  of  him,  spoke  well 
about  his  adventures,  and  insisted  that  the  true  and 
only  secret  of  success  is  to  do  with  all  your  might  what- 
ever is  given  you  to  do.  *  *  *  p        " 


To  His  Wife 

"New  York,  27  Nov.  1890. 
"  *  *  *    As  I  write  at  seven  o'clock  the  newsboys 
are  screaming  an  extra  with  the  news  of  the  great  triumph 
of  Yale  over  Princeton  at  Football,  and  that  of  cours( 
puts  Harvard,  after  her  late  victory,  once  more  at  th< 
head  of  all,  as  she  ought  always  to  be  in  all  things.  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 

*  Henry  M.  Stanley,  the  African  explorer. 


THE  NINETIES  413 

To  the  Same 

"Washington,  D.  C.  9  Jan'y.  1891. 

"I  do  wish  you  were  here  with  me  as  you  ought  to 
be.  You  would  get  such  a  delightful  rest.  If  on  Mon- 
day I  find  that  I  am  going  to  be  detained  here,  as  I  may 
be  till  Thursday,  I  shall  telegraph  to  you  to  come  down 
on  the  Limited  Sunday  morning. 

"Friday  night  you  know  I  feel  like  a  boy  just  let  out 
from  school  and  this  is  no  exception.  I  finished  my  first 
case  in  Court  about  half  past  one,  that  dreadful  one  of 
Mr.  Bishop's — so  dry  and  stupid,  and  so  voluminous. — 
Then  I  browsed  round  in  the  library  for  a  while  on  my 
fishing  case,  and  spent  the  rest  of  the  afternoon  with 
Mr.  Carlisle  with  whom  I  have  a  great  deal  of  business. 
Fortunately  the  detention  of  that  letter  which  you 
secreted  so  long  did  no  harm. 

"Sir  Julian  Pauncefote  has  invited  me  to  dinner  for 
Sunday  which  I  had  to  decline  because  of  Judge  Field's; 
and  Mr.  Bancroft  Davis's  tonight  I  also  had  to  forego 
for  the  Tuckermans',  whither  I  am  just  now  flying. 

"The  weather  here  is  bright  and  clearing  though  cold. 
I  wish  you  were  here.  You  would  have  a  delightful  rest, 
and  the  girls  must  let  you  come. 

Ever  yours,  J    H    C  " 

To  the  Same 

"Washington,  D.  C.  12  Jan'y  1891. 

"From  the  scarcity  of  news  from  home  I  suppose  you 

are  all  like  myself  too  busy  to  write.    What  a  charming 

night  for  Mabel's  first  dinner,  and  what  a  pity  that  I 

cannot  be  on  hand  to  enjoy  it.     It  is  now  quite  certain 


4i4 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  cannot  get  to  New  York  in  tim< 
for  the  wedding.  I  got  my  second  case  on  in  the  Com 
today  and  it  made  quite  a  stir  as  you  will  doubtless  se< 
by  the  morning  papers,  as  it  involved  the  Behring  Se* 
Seal  Fishery  which  everybody  is  now  talking  about. 

"This  afternoon  I  went  round  with  Mrs.  Berdan  mak- 
ing calls  at  the  Judges',  whose  day  it  was.  Mrs.  Gra? 
was  pretty  and  charming.  Mrs.  Blatchford  grave  an< 
dignified.  Mrs.  Fuller  absent  in  Chicago.  Mrs.  Field 
in  bed  with  a  cold.  After  that  we  went  to  Mr.  Blaine'* 
where  I  saw  Miss  Leiter,  and  she  went  with  us  into  Mrs. 
Cameron's,  a  Cleveland  beauty. 

"My  third  and  last  case  seems  likely  not  to  be  reache( 
till  Wednesday,  and  I  doubt  now  whether  I  can  get  home 
before  Thursday  P.  M.     I  am  glad  you  have  got  such 
good  present  for  Will's  bride.     I  must  write  to  him  and 
to  Mr.  IngersoII  my  great  regrets. 

"  I  am  now  going  to  Bancroft  Davis's  to  dinner,  a  ver 
pleasant  house,  far  above  the  general  commonplace  oi 
the  day. 

"Do  drop  one  line  for  me  before  I  come  back.     Eve 

yourSj  J.  H.  C. 


"50  West  47th  St. 

<<T_  T  20  Jany.  1801. 

"Dear  Jo:—  ■    . 

"That  composition  of  yours  about  which  you  wrot< 

to  Effie  must  have  been  a  good  one,  and  as  you  said  yoi 

wanted  some  material  for  your  next  one  on  Behring's 

Sea,  I  mailed  to  you  today  a  pamphlet  on  the  subject 

by  Mr.  Stanton,  a  young  man  in  my  office.     He  wrote 

it  as  an  essay  on  which  to  try  for  the  degree  of  Dr.  o\ 

Phil,  at  Columbia  College,  and  I  think  it  gives  a  vei 


THE  NINETIES  415 

fair  idea  of  the  whole  subject.  The  root  of  the  matter 
is  that  by  the  consent  of  all  nations,  which  makes  inter- 
national law,  a  marine  league  or  as  far  as  cannon  shot 
will  reach  for  defence  has  long  been  settled  as  the  limit 
of  the  territorial  waters  of  any  nation,  and  beyond  that 
the  high  seas  are  free  to  all.  They  belong  to  no  nation, 
and  no  nation  beyond  the  marine  league  can  impose  or 
enforce  its  own  laws  upon  the  ships  or  subjects  of  other 
nations. 

"Russia  did  claim  in  the  early  part  of  the  century 
exclusive  jurisdiction  and  dominion  over  the  whole  of 
what  is  now  Behring's  Sea,  but  England  and  the  United 
States  stoutly  and  persistently  resisted  any  such  claim. 
The  mistake  that  our  Government  made  in  the  outset 
of  this  business  was  to  claim  this  exclusive  possession 
of  the  high  seas  in  a  part  of  the  ocean  1000  miles  wide 
and  long' and  more,  and  to  seize  the  ships  of  other  nations 
there  for  violating  our  laws  which  as  against  them  could 
not  be  in  force  more  than  three  miles  from  shore.  Russia 
before  the  cession  to  us  had  not  exercised  any  such  power, 
and  could  not,  and  as  you  will  see  in  Mr.  Stanton's  paper, 
did  not  pretend  by  the  Treaty  to  transfer  any  such  to 
us. 

"After  Mr.  Cleveland's  administration  had  made  this 
false  step  they  receded  from  it  and  proposed  instead  a 
tripartite  agreement  between  the  U.  S.,  England  and 
Russia  to  restrict  seal  hunting  to  such  seasons  as  would 
save  the  seals  from  extermination  or  diminution.  And 
this  was  what  was  being  negotiated  when  Blaine  suc- 
ceeded to  Bayard,  and  renewed  the  seizures.  What  he 
ought  to  have  done  was  to  appeal  to  all  the  nations  to 
make  such  an  agreement.  There  are  solid  and  substan- 
tial reasons  for  demanding  it,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that 


4i6  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

that  is  the  way  in  which  the  matter  will  finally  be  settled 
Of  course  one  nation  cannot  change  the  settled  rules  o 
international  law. 

"I  suppose  you  have  seen  that  I  am  trying  to  brin^ 
the  matter  before  the  Supreme  Court  at  Washingtor 
to  determine  on  the  legality  of  the  Seizures,  and  I  g( 
there  again  next  Monday  about  that.  If  you  want  any 
thing  more  than  Mr.  Stanton's  pamphlet  I  will  send  yoi 
a  copy  of  my  Washington  brief.  *  *  *  P        " 

To  His  Wife 

"Washington,  D.  C.  26  Jan'y.  1891. 

"I  telegraphed  you  this  morning  on  receipt  of  your 
to  accept  the  Roosevelts'  invitation  for  Thursday,  bu 
have  just  learned  that  the  lines  are  down  so  that  no  mes 
sages  have  gone. 

"My  Behring  Sea  case,  to  my  great  disappointment 
did  not  come  on  today.  It  will  be  reached  tomorrow 
about  one  o'clock,  which  will  give  us  three  hours  to  finisr 
it,  which  ought  to  be  enough  so  as  to  let  me  come  home 
tomorrow  night. 

"There  is  however  a  possibility  that  the  Court  maj 
order  it  to  be  more  fully  argued  so  as  to  detain  me  here 
into  Wednesday,  but  I  sincerely  hope  not,  for  that  woulc 
interfere  with  your  theatre  party.  If  it  should  so  happer 
Carl  must  take  my  place.  I  will  telegraph  you  tomorrow 
anyhow. 

"I  got  your  nice  letter  written  on  my  birthday  which 
in  truth  I  came  near  forgetting  I  was  so  busy. 

"  I  hope  that  Effie  is  better  and  sleeping  soundly  again 
and  that  Pixey  is  safe  still. 

Ever  yours,  J.  H.  C." 


THE  NINETIES  417 

To  the  Same 

"Washington,  27  Jan'y.  1891. 

"To  my  horror  the  adjournment  came  in  the  middle 
of  my  argument.  So,  I  shall  have  to  finish  it  tomorrow 
and  not  get  home  until  late  at  night.  I  am  more  pro- 
voked about  it  than  I  can  tell,  but  I  must  not  desert  it 
with  all  the  world  apparently  looking  on.  But  you  must 
tell  Mrs.  Cleveland*  that  it  is  all  her  husband's  fault,  for 
he  seized  this  vessel  in  1887  and  began  all  this  wretched 
muss. 

"The  lines  being  still  down  I  have  to  write  a  lot  more 
short  notes  to  New  York.    Ever  yours, 

J.  H.  Choate.'* 

To  the  Same 

"Albany,  N.  Y.  March  11,  1891. 

"  I  have  just  returned  from  Stockbridge  where  I  found 
everything  in  excellent  order.  Last  night  was  a  windy 
rain  storm  and  dismal  enough,  but  in  the  night  the  wind 
shifted  to  the  Northwest  and  today  was  bright  and 
glorious.  The  streets  and  sidewalks  were  however  al- 
most impassable  without  rubber  boots — such  vast  masses 
of  slush  and  ice-water. 

"Last  evening  I  took  tea  with  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Joy — a 
veritable  Darby  and  Joan.  They  have  not  been  out 
of  Stockbridge  all  winter  and  read  each  other  to  sleep, 
I  suppose  by  turns  in  the  morning.  You  may  realize 
that  they  were  glad  to  see  a  friendly  face,  as  almost  no- 
body has  darkened  their  doors  before,  and  they  quite 
reproached  me  for  not  bringing  my  bag  there,  instead 
of  leaving  it  at  Mrs.  Ward's  as  I  did.     Their  daugh- 

*  The  President's  wife. 


418  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

ters  are  expected  home  on  Friday  after  many  weeks' 
absence. 

"Today  I  went  all  over  our  premises  with  Henry.  The 
cows  and  pigs  are  all  sound  and  a  new  calf — a  stranger — 
from  Mr.  Brown's  cow  in  the  village,  has  been  added 
to  the  stock.  Morris  is  on  his  last  legs,  but  Dick  has 
renewed  his  youth,  and  on  Saturday  ran  away  with  Bill 
and  his  wife  in  the  cutter, — ran  against  a  tree  and  pitched 
them  all  out,  but  hurt  only  the  cutter.  I  think  they  must 
have  hitched  him  up  wrong  as  before,  for  at  his  venerable 
age  such  antics  can  hardly  be  expected  unless  provoked 
in  some  way.  The  dogs  were  both  tied  up,  as  they  had 
been  associating  last  week  with  a  village  dog  which  was 
shot  as  a  mad  dog.  But  neither  of  them  was  bitten.  How- 
ever, Henry  and  his  wife  were  sure  that  the  whole  village 
was  bent  on  their  destruction,  and  so  a  little  retirement 
will  do  them  no  harm. 

"The  new  barn  is  a  great  success,  and  the  asphalting 
there  and  in  the  stable  seems  to  have  been  well  done. 
Mrs.  Bondorf  was  as  much  interested  as  ever  in  her  hens, 
which  are  now  beginning  to  lay  very  well.  The  pigeons 
too  have  been  laying  and  there  are  two  or  three  newly 
hatched  squabs.  *  *  * 

"I  called  on  Mr.  Parsons  who  has  now  absolutely  de- 
cided to  sell  his  place,  as  the  boys  are  to  go,  one  to  Col- 
lege and  the  other  to  boarding  school,  and  he  has  no 
further  use  for  it.  He  asks  $60,000  for  it.  We  shall  cer- 
tainly be  interested  to  find  him  a  good  purchaser,  who 
will  be  also  a  good  neighbor  to  us.  They  have  got  very 
well  through  the  winter,  driving  every  day — with  a  hun- 
dred continuous  days  of  good  sleighing,  an  almost  un- 
precedented thing  in  Stockbridge. 

"Village  news  was  not  abundant.     Mr.  Aymar  has  a 


THE  NINETIES     .  419 

new  pew  for  you  just  in  the  rear  of  our  window,  two  seats 
behind  the  Sedgwicks,  at  the  very  point  from  which  the 
window  shows  to  best  advantage.*  He  wants  to  know 
whether  we  will  take  it,  because  there  are  other  applicants 
for  it,  and  Mrs.  Iasigi  who  doesn't  like  the  front  pew  is 
ready  to  take  ours.     I  am  decidedly  in  favor  of  making 


the  change.  *  *  * 


J.  H.  G" 


To  the  Same 


"Albany,  18  March,  1891. 

"  I  have  had  a  most  disappointing  time.  Every  morn- 
ing I  expect  my  sole  remaining  case  to  be  called  and  to 
get  home  before  night,  but  some  long  winded  chaps  have 
had  possession  of  the  Court,  so  that  only  one  case  a  day 
has  been  heard.  *  *  * 

"But  I  have  lost  no  time,  for  the  State  Library,  a  most 
charming  place,  now  has  tempted  me  to  study  up  one 
or  two  matters  in  which  I  was  behind.  They  had  every 
book  there  that  I  wanted  and  its  arrangements  are  all 
very  perfect.  *  *  *  J    FL  C  " 

To  Mrs.  Cboate  in  Europe  with  Josephine 

"New  York,  16  June  1891. 
"Dear  Carrie, 

"Here  am  I,  on  the  morning  of  the  greatest  and  best 
day  to  me  of  all  the  year,  writing  to  you  at  sunrise.  The 
truth  is  that  we  are  in  the  midst  of  one  of  those  most 
fearful  hot  spells,  when  day  and  night  are  almost  equally 
unendurable.     The  thermometer  yesterday  was  at  97, 

*  The  window  is  a  memorial  to  Ruluff  Choate. 


420 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


and  at  this  moment  before  the  sun  has  touched  it  al- 
ready over  80.  Meanwhile  I  wonder  how  it  feels  for 
woman  to  be  54 !  That  is  the  charmed  period  of  life, 
is  it  not?  In  fact  if  there  is  one  time  of  life  etc.  it  is  t( 
me  exactly  54.  Of  you  certainly  it  cannot  be  said  thai 
there  is  any  decline.  The  newspapers  daily  report  youi 
movements  by  cable.  The  Sunday  Tribune  said  thai 
having  been  entertained  at  the  American  Legation  yoi 
had  left  Berlin,  and  last  night  the  Mule  in  Distress  n 
ported  Mrs.  Choate  and  Miss  Choate  as  being  now  ii 
Dresden!  which  as  Annie  says,  was  a  great  deal  mon 
than  we  learned  from  your  letter — your  first  and  as  ye1 
only  letter — from  on  board  the  steamer  which  arrivec 
on  Saturday.  *  *  *  T    H    C " 


To  the  Same 

"New  York,  19  June  1891 
«  *  *  *    jy[y  aqUecIuct  case  still  continues  &  I  shal 
be  very  lucky  if  it  does  not  curtail  my  vacation.  *  *  * 
"You  would  be  amused  to  see  how  comfortable  I  ai 
at  50  W.  47.  alone.    I  go  to  bed  early,  don't  have  to  wail 
for  the  doing  of  my  back  hair,  rise  at  6  when  Annie  hi 
my  coffee  always  ready  by  half  past,  take  a  long  rid< 
and  back  to  breakfast  at  8^,  independent  but  very  Ion< 
some.    How  I  shall  stand  it  when  I  cease  to  be  so  full; 
occupied  remains  to  be  seen. 

"I  must  now  go  back  to  Court  before  starting  foi 
Stockbridge.    The  case  is  as  tedious  and  dull  as  it  is  Ionj 
and  I  run  away  from  it  as  often  as  they  will  let  me.    Die 
I  tell  you  that  I  feel  very  confident  of  winning  the  Tildei 
case ;  t    tt    ^  »> 


THE  NINETIES  421 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  23  June  1891. 

"Tomorrow  is  Commencement  at  Harvard  and  I  should 
like  very  much  to  go,  but  this  plaguey  Aqueduct  case 
which  began  before  you  left  still  holds  on  and  keeps  me 
a  close  prisoner,  but  at  last  there  are  gleams  of  hope  that 
it  may  end  before  midsummer.  I  should  have  liked  also 
to  go  to  the  meeting  of  my  class.  Two  of  our  members 
died  last  week — Sears  on  Wednesday  and  Horace  Richard- 
son on  Thursday.  The  latter  was  the  brother  of  Mrs. 
Hardcastle's  friend.  Effie  will  remember  him  as  the 
solid  old  gentleman  who  danced  with  her  at  the  Cen- 
tennial Ball. 

"Beaman  who  is  just  starting  off,  as  usual,  this  time 
for  Cambridge,  tells  me  that  he  has  just  bought  out  the 
liquor  saloon  which  adjoins  the  Brearley  School  and  is 
so  offensive  to  all  of  your  Trustees.  Yesterday  they  had 
him  up  before  a  police  justice,  and  Beaman,  Drs.  Hunting- 
ton and  Croswell  all  appeared  and  asked  to  have  his 
license  revoked,  but  the  man  shed  tears,  swore  that  he 
never  drank  a  drop  in  his  life,  &  pleaded  that  if  his  license 
was  revoked  he  could  get  no  other  and  his  family  would 
starve,  and  it  resulted  in  their  taking  his  lease  off  his 
hands  at  a  low  figure,  perfectly  satisfactory  to  all  con- 
cerned. *  *  *  T    H    C" 

To  the  Same 


*  *  * 


"New  York,  2  July  1891. 
You  will,  I  am  sure,  be  glad  to  learn  that 
the  infernal  Aqueduct  case  came  to  an  end  today,  and 
left  me  free.     Though  we  were  disastrously  routed  it 


422 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


was  still  a  great  relief  to  be  free,  and  not  to  have 
spend  July  in  the  City,  sweltering  before  a  Jury. 

J.  H.  C." 

To  the  Same 

"Stockbridge,  14  July  1891. 
*  *  *  Your  project  for  me  to  come  out  in  Septembei 
have  my  portrait  painted  and  bring  you  and  Effie  hom< 
in  November  meets  with  no  favor  at  all.  What  woulc 
Mabel,  Jo,  George  and  Grandma  do  with  both  of  us  oi 
the  other  side  of  the  ocean?  Besides,  I  am  heartily  sic] 
of  portrait  painters  and  never  want  to  see  another.  Bon- 
nat's  pictures  that  I  have  seen  I  don't  like,  and  if  I  coulc 
get  to  Europe  for  a  month  or  two  I  certainly  wouldn't 
spend  half  of  my  time  in  anybody's  studio,  though  h< 
could  paint  me  with  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow.  Sc 
there  you  have  my  mind  very  plainly.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 


«  *  *  * 


To  the  Same 

"Stockbridge,  21  July  1891 
A  great  event  in  our  farm  life  happened  o 
Sunday  night.  The  old  black  sow,  one  of  the  Berkshires 
saved  over  from  last  year,  littered  with  nine  pigs  as  black 
as  herself.  She  made  a  great  fuss  so  that  Henry  had  to 
be  up  nearly  all  night  with  her.  The  smallest  one  was 
so  feeble  that  in  the  morning  they  had  to  take  it  to  E 
mett's  house,  whose  wife  has  some  knowledge  of  pig  o 
stetrics,  and  warm  it  by  the  fire,  feed  it  with  a  spoo 
and  cosset  it  back  to  life,  before  it  could  be  trusted  alone 
with  its  mother  and  sisters  and  brothers.  After  brea 
fast  this  morning  the  family  proposes  to  make  a  pilgrima 


? 

:>n, 


THE  NINETIES  423 

to  the  pig-sty  to  see  the  new  arrivals.  Our  hay  is  now 
nearly  all  in,  quite  a  barnful,  and  our  corn-crop  is  so 
promising  that  our  broker-neighbor  prophesies  that  it 
will  take  such  an  amount  of  currency  to  move  it  in  the 
fall,  as  to  promote  quite  a  tight  money  market.  On  Sun- 
day we  had  Mr.  Cooper  up  from  the  City,  and  as  our 
neighbor  had  some  friends  of  his  also,  we  had  them  all 

j  to  dinner — Mr.  &  Mrs.  Gibson,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Knox— and 

;  everything  went  off  very  well.  I  drove  Mr.  Cooper  all 
around  for  two  days,  and  as  he  burns  fearfully  at  the 
least  exposure  to  the  sun,  we  sent  him  home  yesterday 
with  such  a  ruby  glow  of  health  upon  his  countenance 
that  we  feared  his  friends,  if  he  told  them  where  he  had 
been,  would  say  that  they  must  live  altogether  too  high 
at  Mr.  Choate's.  (Here  I  stay  my  hand  for  breakfast.) 
Well,  breakfast  is  over,  and  I  have  just  taken  the  grand 
tour  of  the  place  with  Mr.  Cleveland*  and  the  entire 
household.  Pigs,  Barn,  Hay-mow,  Chickens,  pigeons, 
horses,  garden  and  tennis  ground  all  have  been  inspected 
and  found  in  good  order.  On  Saturday  last  who  should 
appear  on  our  piazza  but  old  Mrs.  Lawrence  and  Miss 
Lena.    They  rode  up  through  the  grounds  from  Church 

i  St.  and  seemed  much  enchanted  with  all  they  saw.  The 
old  lady  is  growing  fat  and  handsome — and  her  bright 
and  cheerful  countenance  is  as  bewitching  as  ever.  *  *  * 
What  do  you  think  of  my  having  been  invited  to  join  a 

1  whist  class?  to  meet  every  Monday  and  Thursday  morn- 
ing from  eleven  sharp  to  half  past  twelve,  the  other  mem- 

1  bers  being  Miss  TurnbuII,  Mrs.  Iasigi  and  her  twin  Miss 
Weyman  &  Miss  Pomeroy,  who  is  the  teacher.  Mabel 
considers  it  very  funny.  I  enclose  a  new  account  of  the 
'Mistress  of  Rosemary'  from  her  own  lips  from  last  Sun- 

*  His  partner. 


424  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

day's  Recorder  which  I  am  sure  will  amuse  and  entertain 
you.  She  seems  to  be  becoming  a  very  celebrated 
woman.  *  *  *  T    H    C" 


The  Mistress  of  Rosemary  was  Mrs.  William  Choate, 
who  had  been  concerned  in  starting  at  Wallingford,  Con- 
necticut, the  Rosemary  School  (for  girls)  that  was  after- 
wards moved  to  Greenwich. 


"  Stockbridge,  Mass.  28  July  1891. 
"My  Dearest  &  Only  One. 

*  *  *  We  are  dragging  our  slow  length  along  as 
well  as  we  can  without  you  and  Effie,  and  I  find  myself 
every  morning  before  I  get  up,  counting  the  days  already 
past  (now  almost  nine  weeks)  and  the  days  to  come  be- 
fore you  will  return.  Last  Saturday  morning  I  had  a 
delightful  party  of  seven  children  whom  I  picked  up  in 
one  wagon  in  the  village — two  Iasigi's,  two  Woods's,  two 
Bayard  Tuckerman's  (my  own  Elizabeth  and  little  May) 
and  one  Gibson.  I  found  them  at  Dean's  store  trying 
to  buy  four  five  cent  dolls  for  three  cents  which  was  the 
whole  amount  of  their  united  funds.  After  I  had  helped 
them  out  with  that,  they  all  came  up  here  with  me  and 
we  had  a  glorious  morning.  First  we  made  a  raid  upon 
the  kitchen,  where  fortunately  Sarah,  the  cook,  had  just 
turned  out  a  great  batch  of  sponge-cakes  each  big  enough 
and  small  enough  for  one,  and  with  a  glass  of  milk  made 
quite  a  lunch — then  we  went  on  to  the  front  cellar  to 
visit  'Bay ah'  and  her  four  new  black  kittens,  all  in  one 
wine  box  without  a  single  eye  yet  open  among  them. 
Of  course  we  each  had  to  have  one  in  our  own  hands  to 


THE  NINETIES  425 

see  how  soft  it  was.  Then  on  to  the  hen  house  to  see  a 
brood  of  new  chickens,  out  of  the  egg  that  very  morning, 
where  the  same  process  had  to  be  gone  through,  next 
to  the  pig-sty  to  see  the  new  litter.  Henry  went  in  to 
try  to  drive  them  out,  but  the  old  sow  flew  at  him  and 
he  too  flew  over  the  fence  like  a  bird,  so  we  all  had  to  go 
into  the  shed  and  inspect  the  fascinating  group.  After 
all  this  exhausting  work  and  before  the  party  broke  up 
we  had  to  make  a  new  descent  upon  the  kitchen  for  more 
cakes,  as  you  may  imagine.  *  *  * 

"George  Butler  is  here  painting  my  portrait,  having 
been  sent  up  here  by  the  office  for  that  purpose,  as  they 
found  it  impossible  to  catch  me  while  in  town.  Of  course 
I  cannot  tell  yet  how  he  will  succeed,  as  he  only  began 
yesterday,  but  his  methods  seem  to  be  more  promising 
than  those  of  either  of  my  previous  executioners,  and  I 
have  some  hopes.  Certainly  if  he  can  begin  to  do  as 
well  for  me  as  he  did  for  Mr.  Lucius  Tuckerman,  whose 
portrait  was  one  of  the  best  I  ever  saw,  I  shall  be  quite 
satisfied.  *  *  *  *         T    H    C " 

To  Mrs.  Choate 

"Stockbridge,  Mass,  4  Augt.  1891. 
"Sixty  seven  days  gone  and  seventy  three  to  come, 
of  this  long,  long  separation,  if  I  count  correctly.  I  wish 
you  were  here  this  very  minute  to  consult  with  George 
Butler  about  this  portrait  that  he  is  painting.  I  gave 
him  all  of  last  week,  and  am  to  give  him  until  Saturday 
of  this  week  when  we  go  to  Beverly.  It  is  quite  hard 
work  as  he  comes  over  (from  C.  E.  B's)  at  nine  o'clock 
every  day  and  stays  till  near  five.  He  has  completely 
finished  one  portrait  for  the  office  which  everybody  likes. 


426  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

I  think  it  so  good  that  now  he  is  at  work  upon  another 
for  you  or  for  the  Bar  Association  as  may  happen.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 
To  the  Same 

"Stockbridge,  Mass,  14  Aug.  1891. 
"  *  *  *    ^jr  james  Russell  Lowell's  death  is  the  one 
topic  everywhere  this  week.    He  certainly  was  America's 
greatest  citizen  if  any  one  is  entitled  to  that  name,  and 
his  loss  is  irreparable.  *  *  *  T    H    r  " 

To  the  Same 

"Stockbridge,  Mass,  18  Aug.  1891. 
"This  is  Tuesday  afternoon  and  though   I   haven't 
written  you  since  Friday  morning,  I  don't  feel  very  much 
in  the  mood  for  writing,  but  as  John  Gilpin  says: 

"  'I  do  admire  of  woman  kind  but  one, 
And  you  are  she,  my  dearest  dear 
Therefore  it  shall  be  done.' 

"  *  *  *  There  is  no  small  interest  felt  hereabouts  in 
the  will  of  Mrs.  Hopkins-Searles,  who  died  last  month 
leaving  her  whole  estate  of  30  or  40  millions  to  her  young 
husband — certainly  a  good  result  of  an  investment  in 
matrimony  for  only  three  years.  AH  the  women  are 
especially  worked  up  about  it  and  Grandma  is  particularly 
incensed  denouncing  the  late  Mrs.  H.  S. — frequently  and 
in  the  roundest  terms.  It  seems  that  when  they  married 
in  1888,  she  was  already  70  and  he  only  40;  that  up  to 
that  time  she  had  an  existing  will  by  which  she  left  her 
whole  estate  to  young  Hopkins  her  former  husband's, 
and  her  own,  adopted  son,  but  that  immediately  after 
the  marriage  she  revoked  that  will  and  made  this  new 


THE  NINETIES  427 

one  in  her  husband's  favor,  he  at  the  same  time  making 
his  will  by  which  he  left  everything  to  her,  although  of 
course  he  had  nothing  to  leave.  It  also  is  said  that  she 
left  several  near  relations  unprovided  for.  So  there  is 
a  universal  feminine  howl,  and  demand  'to  break  the 
will.'  I  have  tried  to  argue  to  Grandma  that  every  woman 
ought  to  love  her  husband  well  enough  to  leave  him  all 
she  has,  but  as  yet  she  doesn't  see  it.  Every  body 
prophesies  another  great  will  case,  and  everybody  is 
very  curious  to  know  whether  I  shall  be  in  it.  In  truth 
I  can  tell  you  confidentially,  but  you  must  not  let  it  go 
any  further  at  present,  that  the  disappointed  heir  at 
law  is  now  on  the  way  from  California  to  Stockbridge 
to  consult  me,  and  I  shall  soon  know  something  more 
about  it.  On  the  8th  of  October  I  have  to  be  at  Colum- 
bus, Ohio,  to  argue  the  case  of  the  Standard  Oil  Co., 
but  as  that  is  a  peremptory  appointment  and  the  case 
will  only  last  a  day  I  shall  surely  be  back  in  New  York 
before  the  14th,  when  at  the  Steamer's  present  rates 
you  will  arrive.  This  year  certainly  we  shall  spend  our 
wedding  day  together,  and  in  spite  of  the  lapse  of  30 
years  (can  you  believe  it?)  it  will  of  course  be  a  new  honey- 
moon. *  *  *  J    H    C  " 

"Stockbridge,  Mass. 

"My  Dearest  Effie.  *4    Ugt*  '  9*' 

"  *  *  *  I  suppose  the  European  papers  will  tell  you 
all  about  Mr.  Lowell  and  his  death  after  prolonged  suffer- 
ings. Many  people  thought  he  had  been  spoiled  in  Eng- 
land, and  contracted  a  sort  of  Anglomania,  but  it  was 
not  so.  Of  course  he  liked  the  great  and  good  things  in 
which  the  best  of  English  people  excel,  but  from  the  be- 


428  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

ginning  to  the  end  he  was  most  intensely  American,  and 
had  a  most  abiding  faith  in  our  future.  Bishop  Phillips 
Brooks  is  coming  from  Bar  Harbor  to  take  charge  of  his 
funeral,  and  I  suppose  that  Uncle  Charles  is  to  be  one 
of  the  pall  bearers.  He  and  Aunt  L.  were  at  B.  H.  when 
Mr.  L.  died  on  Wednesday,  and  the  funeral  is  today  in 
Boston.  *  *  *  pApA  „ 

To  His  Wife 

"Stockbridge,  Mass,  31  Augt.  1891. 
"My  Dearest  and  Only — 

"  *  *  *  j  have  today  written  to  my  Lord  Bishop  of 
Peterborough,  telling  him  that  you  were  to  be  in  Eng- 
land for  two  or  three  weeks  before  sailing  on  the  7th  of 
October  and  that  I  had  told  you  to  be  sure  and  spend 
at  least  a  day  there,  for  I  knew  he  would  reproach  me 
if  I  were  to  let  you  pass  through  England  without  his 
knowing  it.  I  gave  him  your  address  in  Paris,  and  if 
he  and  his  wife  are  at  home,  as  I  suppose  Bishops  always 
are,  you  will  undoubtedly  hear  from  him,  and  don't  fail 
to  go  if  he  asks  you.  Peterborough  is  only  about  70  miles 
N.  W.  from  London  and  not  more  than  a  couple  of  hours 
out  by  rail.  I  have  also  written  to  Mr.  Lincoln  that  you 
would  be  in  London,  and  would  not  hesitate  to  call  upon 
him  if  you  needed  any  advice.  *  *  *  T    H    C " 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  4  Sept.  1891. 

"Here  I  am  sweltering  away  for  the  last  three  days 

again  in  New  York  as  if  I  were  a  young  lawyer  in  active 

practise.     The  fact  is  my  false  repute  as  a  will-breaker 

is  beginning  to  be  troublesome.    These  California  people 


THE  NINETIES  429 

called  me  down  again  to  meet  their  client  Timothy  Hop- 
kins, who  arrived  from  California  on  Wednesday.  Of 
course  his  hopes  are  very  high,  and  his  anger  at  being 
cut  off  by  the  young  husband  very  great.  There  will 
be  a  great  to-do  about  this  case  in  the  newspapers  of 
course  for  it  is  a  most  romantic  case,  but  perhaps  a  settle- 
ment will  be  made.  *  *  *  „ 

J.  ri.  \^. 

To  the  Same 

"Stockbridge,  Mass,  20  Sept.  1891 
"  *  *  *  Langdon  Valentine  was  operated  upon  yester- 
day for  that  strange  disorder,  of  which  there  have  been 
so  many  cases  lately,  an  obstruction  in  the  cul-de-sac. 
We  heard  last  night  that  the  operation  had  been  success- 
ful and  he  will  probably  get  well.  Dr.  Greenleafs  son 
has  just  recovered  from  a  similar  case. 

"Of  course  you  are  in  London  now,  and  as  24  days 
more  will  bring  you  home  I  think  I  can  stand  it,  although 
I  have  been  most  lonely.  T    H    T " 

To  the  Same 

"Stockbridge,  Mass.  24  Sept.  1891 
"How  can  I  let  this  sacred  day  go  by  without  a  line 
to  you.  Dear  Ruly !  I  miss  him  more  and  more,  instead 
of  less  and  less,  as  the  years  roll  on  making  him  really 
more  necessary  to  me,  and  indeed  your  absence  today 
draws  him  still  nearer.  The  truth  is  I  am  very  home- 
sick just  now  for  the  want  of  you.  *  *  * 

"Our  trip  (Mabel's  and  mine)  to  Boston  and  to  Wind- 
sor was  a  most  pleasant  and  satisfactory  one,  and  we 
returned  on  Wednesday  evening.  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Evarts 
are  both  growing  old,  but  she  works  for  two  or  three 


430  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

hours  every  day  in  her  garden,  and  enjoys  the  quiet  home 
life  very  much.  He  seems  to  be  getting  restless  and  un- 
easy, and  how  could  he  help  it?  under  this  great  depriva- 
tion of  loss  of  sight.  But  he  drives  a  great  deal,  sleeps 
often  and  talks  the  rest  of  the  time,  and  of  course  he  was 
much  delighted  to  receive  one  who  has  always  proved 
so  good  a  listener.  He  had  found  at  last,  what  I  had 
been  at  him  for  years  to  unearth,  the  letter  of  introduc- 
tion which  Rufus  Choate  gave  to  me*  when  I  went  to 
New  York  on  the  24th  day  of  September  1855,  just  37 
years  ago  today.  It  is  very  charming  reading,  and  you 
will  have  to  put  it  among  your  treasures.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 

To  the  Same 

"Washington,  D.  C.  Oct.  28,  1891. 
"  *  *  *  Today  I  received  the  glad  tidings  that  I  had 
won  the  Tilden  Will  Case,  much  to  the  disgust  no  doubt 
of  all  the  New  York  papers,  who  will  howl  over  the  re- 
sult. It  has  been  a  hard  fight  and  a  great  victory,  and 
won  by  a  very  narrow  squeeze,  for  I  see  that  the  Judges 
stood  four  to  three,  while  in  the  Courts  below  they  were 
two  and  two.    But  it  is  enough.  *  *  *  , 

To  His  Daughter  in  Munich,  Bavaria 

"  50  West  47th  St.     Saturday  Morning 

uu     n  ,,  26  Deer.  1891. 

My  Dearest  Mab. 

"Let  me  tell   you   what  happened   just   twenty-one 

years  ago  this  very  day  and  even  this  very  hour.    It  was 

the  day  after  Christmas,  and  Ruly,  George  and  Effie, 

*  Boyhood  and  Youth,  p.  93. 


THE  NINETIES  431 

6,  4  &  2,  were  playing  about  me  in  the  parlor  of  the  little 
house  in  21st  Street.  Mama  was  too  busy  up  stairs  to 
come  down — when  suddenly  a  little  wailing  cry  was  heard 
overhead  and  word  came  down  that  Mabel  so  long  ex- 
pected had  really  come,  and  so  of  course  we  all  had  to 
rush  up  and  see  the  little  rosy  lump,  and  welcome  her 
to  this  vale  of  tears  and  joys. 

"Well,  twenty-one  years  I  have  had  her  now  and  on 
the  whole  I  will  say  that  nothing  in  this  world  has  given 
her  father  and  mother  greater  pleasure  and  comfort, 
and  I  do  not  see  how  if  all  the  powers  that  go  to  fashion 
children  could  have  tried,  they  could  have  had  a  greater 
success  than  in  this  same  dear  Mabel. 

"It  grieves  me  much  that  today  for  the  first  time  on 
the  return  of  this  one  of  the  few  very  best  of  all  my  days 
I  cannot  hold  you  in  my  arms  and  enjoy  you  face  to  face. 
But  I  am  delighted  to  see  by  your  letter  and  by  Jo's  last 
which  arrived  this  week  that  you  are  doing  well,  and 
both  making  the  best  of  your  time. 

"This  is  only  a  birthday  greeting  written  in  the  greatest 
haste  to  catch  the  steamer  but  Mama  will  write  to-mor- 
row. 

"Great  love  to  Jo  and  a  birthday  kiss  to  yourself. 

Ever  your  loving  pApA  „ 

To  the  Same 

"52  Wall  St.  New  York. 
"My  Darling  Mabel.  15  January  1892. 

"  I  have  a  chance  day  out  of  Court  today,  because  one 
of  the  Jurymen  had  the  grip  and  the  Doctor  wouldn't 
let  him  come  out  in  this  snowstorm.  Almost  everybody 
seems  to  be  having  the  grip  now,  but  I  was  not  at  all 


432  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

sorry  for  this  particular  case  because  it  gave  me  a  chance 
to  write  to  you  and  Jo  by  tomorrow's  steamer  and  what 
greater  pleasure  could  I  possibly  have  than  that?  Our 
domestic  affairs  go  on  smoothly  and  quietly  though  Mama 
is  still  as  ever  badly  off  for  'time.'  Effie  when  not  en- 
gaged in  lunches,  dinners,  teas,  or  routs  or  bouts  of  some 
sort,  devotes  a  vast  deal  of  time  and  attention  to  the 
cat.  I  tell  her  it  is  a  sure  sign  that  she  has  missed  her 
mark  and  that  she  ought  long  ago  to  have  found  some 
more  worthy  object  on  which  to  lavish  the  outgushing 
heart.  She  has  '  it '  on  her  shoulders  at  meals — puts  *  it ' 
to  my  nose  and  lips  to  be  smelt  of  and  kissed,  and  worries 
Mama  very  much  by  inviting  'it'  to  run  up  her  best 
dresses  from  the  ground  to  her  shoulder.  'It'  is  cer- 
tainly very  cunning  and  seductive  when  not  running 
at  large  on  the  back  fence  in  bad  company,  which  I  am 
sorry  to  say  'it'  is  very  fond  of  doing.  But  often  in  the 
evening  'it*  frequents  my  room  hunting  for  mice  and 
noises.  *  *  * 

"  I  saw  several  of  your  friends  at  the  Patriarchs'  night 
before  last.  Eunice  Ives  was  having  her  * first  ball9  and 
seemed  to  think  it  was  'perfectly  splendid.'  Polly  Brew- 
ster was   there   looking  as  pretty  as  a  picture.   *  *  * 

I  have  urged to  go  in  there  very  strongly  but  he 

says  he  has  no  chance.  *  *  *  If  I  were  25  I  certainly 
would  go  in  and  win  or  find  out  the  reason  why.  By  the 
way,  I  came  down  in  the  cars  with  Mr.  Brewster,  Polly's 
father,  who  complained  that  I  was  a  constant  thorn  in 
his  side.  I  asked  him  what  he  meant,  and  he  said  that 
his  wife  was  always  urging  him  to  go  into  'Society'  which 
he  always  resisted  as  incompatible  with  business,  where- 
upon she  seizes  the  morning  paper  and  cries  out  'There ! 
see  now,  Mr.  Choate  was  at  the  Patriarchs'  or  at  the 


THE  NINETIES  433 

Assembly  last  night,  and  led  the  way  down  to  supper, 
and  you  have  always  held  him  up  as  a  model.'  I  told 
him  I  had  been  only  once  this  winter.  'Well,'  says  he, 
'they  advertise  you  in  such  big  letters  that  it  seems  as 
if  you  were  there  all  the  time,'  etc.  etc.  I  enclose  a  news- 
paper cutting  about  Bishop  Phillips  Brooks,  which  I  cut 
out  for  you  and  have  nearly  worn  out  since  carrying  it 
about  in  my  pocket.  It  exhibits  the  great  preacher  in 
a  lovely  light,  and  shows  how  much  he  has  lost  by  re- 
maining an  old  bachelor. 

"Tomorrow  night  I  am  to  go  to  the  Doctors'  Dinner 
and  I  believe  they  expect  me  to  speak  to  a  toast  on  'the 
duties  of  Trustees,'  but  that  would  be  too  stupid,  and  so 
I  think  that  I  will  spend  the  few  minutes  assigned  to 
me  in  chaffing  the  doctors  instead.  It  is  too  good  a  chance 
to  be  lost — two  or  three  hundred  of  them — and  only 
two  or  three  patients  or  laymen.  *  *  * 

Ever  your  loving,  ?ApA  „ 

"50  West  47th  St. 

"My  Dearest  Mabel: —  4    e  y. 

"I  must  plead  guilty  to  great  neglect  of  you  lately, 
but  the  truth  is  that  I  have  been  very,  very  busy  all  the 
winter,  and  the  more  so  for  trying  to  arrange  matters 
so  as  to  get  away  in  the  Spring.  The  case  of  your  friend 
Mr.  Hopkins  is  the  great  stumbling  block  in  the  way, 
ibr  if  that  is  tried  at  the  Spring  Term  I  shall  have  to  be 
in  Salem  until  it  is  ended  and  the  Lord  only  knows  when 
that  will  be.  *  *  * 

"I  had  the  strangest  and  most  vivid  dream  night  be- 
fore last  of  which  Jo.  like  his  namesake  among  the  Egyp- 
tians must  be  the  interpreter.     Mr.  L.  P.  Nash  and  I 


434  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

were  taking  a  stroll  together  on  Salem  Neck  and  just 
before  reaching  the  Alms  House  which  forms  its  principal 
ornament  we  came  upon  a  little  lily  pond — close  by  which 
we  discovered  an  old  slouched  hat  and  overcoat,  and  a 
pair  of  gloves  lying  together  on  the  bank.  I  said  to  Mr. 
Nash,  'It's  very  queer,  to  find  these  things  here!  Can 
there  be  anything  in  the  pond?'  So  I  took  a  long  pole 
and  turned  aside  the  lily  pads — and  underneath  them 
sure  enough  lay  Mr.  Southmayd,  who  had  taken  this 
way  of  ending  his  dreary  and  troubled  life.  We  fished 
him  out  stone  dead  and  apparently  for  a  long  time.  Then 
all  at  once  the  scene  shifted  to  our  old  home  in  the  Owen 
House  at  Stockbridge  where  we  carried  him  for  burial, 
and  all  the  Butlers,  Lawrences,  Tweeds,  Beamans,  etc., 
etc.,  gathered  for  the  occasion.  We  sent  notices  of  his 
death  to  all  the  New  York  papers,  which  contained  sen- 
sational articles  on  the  suicide  caused  by  disappointed 
love,  and  glowing  obituaries  on  his  great  career  as  a  lawyer 
and  a  man.  While  we  were  getting  ready  to  bury  him 
his  body  kept  shrinking  and  shrinking  until  it  took  the 
form  of  a  fresh  and  new-born  baby,  which  all  of  a  sudden 
as  we  were  washing  it,  began  to  sneeze  and  cough,  make 
up  faces  and  laugh,  and  was  one  of  the  sweetest  and  jolliest 
babies  ever  produced.  Of  course  we  were  all  very  much 
taken  aback,  and  wondered  what  he  would  say  when  he 
read  the  papers  and  all  they  contained.  This  thought 
disturbed  me  so  that  I  woke  up — and  that  was  the  end 
of  the  dream.  But  it  ran  just  as  I  have  described  it,  and 
it  seemed  to  me  to  be  quite  a  demonstration  of  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  resurrection  of  the  body,  that  this  dried  up 
old  bachelor,  so  crusty  and  despondent,  should  bury 
himself  among  the  lilies,  and  be  born  again  for  a  new 
and  jolly  career,  to  have  the  good  time  at  last  which  in 


THE  NINETIES  435 

his  past  life  he  had  so  thoroughly  missed.  I  have  not 
seen  him  since,  but  I  must  tell  him  of  it  and  see  how  he 
will  take  it.  *  *  * 

"The  Harvard  Dinner  passed  off  last  Friday  night 
with  great  eclat.  But  as  Effie  had  a  dinner  the  same 
night  and  I  was  invited  to  sit  between  dear  Edna  Barger 
and  Edith  Bonner  I  remained  at  home  to  enjoy  that, 
and  what  sensible  man  with  a  heart  to  love  would  not? — 
and  did  not  reach  Dehnonico's  till  ten  o'clock,  when 
President  Eliot  was  just  concluding  what  he  had  to  say. 
Then  Jack  Wendell  sang  a  new  song  to  the  discomfiture 
of  Yale,  and  Evarts  through  the  whole  evening  led  the 
cheers  and  the  rah !  rah !  rah !,  standing  on  a  chair  and 
posturing  like  the  leader  of  an  orchestra.  Bishop  Brooks 
made  a  grand  speech  and  I  wish  I  could  tell  you  all  the 
good  things  he  said.  He  pitched  into  the  Dickey,* 
praised  Mr.  Garrison  for  exposing  them,  condemned  the 
swell  boys,  who  impudently  paraded  as  if  they  alone 
were  the  College,  and  asserted  that  the  true  Harvard 
now  as  always  consisted  of  the  great  crowd  of  boys  who 
went  there  for  earnest  purposes.  'The  College'  he  said 
'has  a  millstone  just  now  about  its  neck — no,  I  will  not 
call  it  a  millstone — it  has  not  weight  enough  for  that — 
but  rather  it  has  about  its  neck  a  tinsel  collar — a  dickey 
you  might  call  it.'  AH  of  which  was  well  received  and 
made  a  great  impression.  To  everybody's  surprise  I 
made  a  serious  speech,  which  they  took  quite  as  well 
as  they  ever  had  my  lightest.  I  enclose  a  splendid  speech 
of  George  Wm.  Curtis  on  Lowell  which  you  and  Jo.  must 
both  read.  *  *  *  Papa." 


*  The  D.  K.  E.  Society  of  Harvard  College,  which  had  fallen  into  obstrep- 
erous ways. 


436  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

To  His  Wife 

"Chicago,  22  Mch.  1892. 

«  *  *  *  Our  case  proceeded  all  day  today  and  promises 
to  be  a  long  one.  I  see  no  prospect  of  getting  away  from 
here  until  Monday  or  Tuesday.  The  Courts  and  lawyers 
here  are  fearfully  slow  and  have  no  idea  of  the  pressure 
under  which  we  work  in  New  York.  *  *  * 

"We  have  had  no  time  to  visit  the  Fair  Grounds  which 
are  six  miles  away  and  there  has  been  no  sunshine  for 
such  a  trip.  I  was  much  disappointed  at  St.  Gaudens's 
statue  of  Lincoln,  but  it  was  a  fearful  problem  for  a  sculp- 
tor to  deal  with  his  ungainly  figure,  coat,  trousers  and 
waistcoat,  but  perhaps  he  did  his  best  by  exposing  them 
in  all  their  hardness.  Grant's  equestrian  statue  which 
stands  near  by  is  much  more  to  my  mind.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C" 

To  the  Same 

«^      t    t         t      t  "New  York,  5  April  1892, 

"Our  darkest  day !  * .  ^ 

"Dear  Carrie, 

" .  *  *  *    Think  of  this  day,  dear,  eight  years  ago.    How 

useful  and  helpful  dear  Ruly  would  be  to  us  now. 

J.  H.  C." 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  20  April  1892. 
"Words  are  weak  to  describe  how  lonesome  I  have 
been  tonight  with  Carl  away  to  dinner  and  all  the  eve- 
ning. However  I  have  been  as  busy  as  a  bee  among  my 
law  books  getting  ready  in  the  Stewart  will  case  for  to- 
morrow which  promises  to  be  a  critical  day.     It  drags 


THE  NINETIES  437 

its  slow  length  along  and  nobody  can  tell  now  when  it 
will  be  finished.  Today  we  all  went  up  town  to  examine 
a  sick  and  dying  witness  but  she  failed  so  fast  under  the 
process  that  after  spending  half  an  hour  over  her,  we 
concluded  to  abandon  it.  If  I  get  through  this  as  I  hope 
to  this  week,  then  I  have  to  spend  nearly  if  not  quite 
all  of  next  week  in  Albany  disposing  of  a  lot  of  cases  in 
the  Court  of  Appeals,  leaving  me  a  scant  week  to  close 
up  everything  here  before  the  7th.  Everybody  is  doing 
what  they  can  to  help  me  off  but  any  way  I  expect  to 
drag  only  my  remains  aboard  the  steamer.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  G" 

To  the  Same 

"Albany,  27  April  1892. 
*  *  *  Today  I  have  argued  my  fourth  case  here 
since  Monday  morning,  and  this  is  Wednesday;  the 
other  three  are  all  very  easy.  But  this  crowding  of  nine 
months  work  into  seven  as  I  have  done  this  winter  makes 
me  tired.  There,  you  don't  often  get  such  a  confession 
from  me,  do  you?    But  it  is  a  fact.  *  *  *   y    lj    p » 


To  the  Same 

"Albany,  1892 
"  *  *  *  I  propose  to  begin  to  pack  my  trunk  on  Tues- 
day morning  and  hope  not  to  find  myself  in  a  'State  of 
mind '  at  the  last  moment.  AH  my  cases  have  got  out 
of  the  way  but  one,  and  that  I  think  will  be  easily  dis- 
posed of.  Everybody  thinks  that  I  'broke  the  record* 
of  the  Court  of  Appeals  last  week  by  arguing  seven  cases 

there — a  thing  before  unheard  of.  *  *  *         T  ^  „ 

J.  ri.  C 


438  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  4  May  1892. 

"  *  *  *  Mr.  Beaman's  dinner  last  night  was  a  great 
success  and  the  company  very  distinguished.  Mr.  Phelps 
was  there  and  Mr.  Reid  and  Carter,  Seward,  Bristow, 
Dillon  &  the  Judges.  Mr.  Evarts  came  out  of  his  gloom, 
if  such  a  word  can  be  applied  even  to  such  a  shade  as 
has  fallen  over  him,  and  entertained  the  Company,  but 
chiefly  with  reminiscences  of  his  own  'mots'  and  with 
one  or  two  of  mine  which  I  had  quite  forgotten, — one 
especially  about  Boston  and  the  Coliseum  which  they 
got  up  there  at  one  time  in  imitation  of  Rome  for  a  great 
fair,  but  which  was  soon  destroyed,  and  brought  into 
ridicule;  that  I  said  in  a  speech  there  that  'more  for- 
tunate than  Rome,  Boston  had  survived  her  Coliseum.' 
When  appealed  to  by  the  Company  I  had  to  confess  that 
I  couldn't  remember  it.  *  *  * 

"I  fear  I  shall  have  to  sit  up  nearly  all  night  tonight 
over  my  last  case  which  I  am  to  argue  tomorrow.  So 
I  must  say  goodby.  J    H    C " 

"Venice,  Italy. 
"Dear  George:-  4  July  1 892. 

"  *  *  *     Yesterday  we  rowed  over  to  Murano— one 
of  the  islands  in  the  neighborhood — to  see  a  festival  held 
there  annually  as  it  has  been  since  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury.   At  six  o'clock  out  of  the  old  church  came  a  Ionj 
procession  of  priests  and  acolytes  bearing  banners,  an( 
crosses  and  huge  candles  lighted,  and  a  huge  crucifix, 
and  images  of  saints  and  angels;   a  little  boy  not  more 
than  four  years  old  was  dressed  out  as  St.  John  bearing 


To  His  Son 


THE  NINETIES  439 

his  cross,  and  driving  a  snow  white  Iamb  before  him, 
and  a  little  girl  of  the  same  age  as  the  Bride  of  Heaven, 
the  whole  concluding  with  the  Bishop  bearing  the  host 
under  a  canopy,  with  many  priests  swinging  censers 
with  burning  incense  before  it.  Everything  about  it 
was  most  grotesque  &  everybody  was  very  jolly  except 
little  St.  John  and  the  Bride  of  Heaven,  both  of  whom 
got  tired  out,  and  ended  their  parts  in  tears.  We  have 
been  much  surprised  to  find  the  Italians  such  active  and 
industrious  people,  and  although  beggars  and  priests 
and  soldiers  abound  everywhere,  there  are  great  signs 
of  prosperity  everywhere,  and  one  thing  which  differs 
very  much  from  America  is  that  nobody  gets  drunk  as 
we  have  seen  only  two  drunken  men  in  all  Italy.  They 
drink  plenty  of  light  wines  and  beer  but  apparently  no 
strong  liquors.  *  *  *  „ 

The  testimony  about  the  orderly  character  of  light 
wines  and  beer  comes  opportunely  now  (1920)  and  is 
obviously  disinterested. 

"Hotel  Zermatterhof, 

„_  _  Thursday  evening,  Sept.  1st.  1892 

,Dear  Effie. — 

«  *  *  *    -r/he  company  at  the  Riffel  Alp  was  of  quite 

a  high  order.     There  were  lots  of  Cambridge  &  Oxford 

men  there  all  engaged  in  climbing,  the  Head  Master  of 

Harrow  and  quite  a  number  of  the  other  masters,  one 

measuring  6  feet   10 — a  perfect  giant.     Munkacsy   the 

:  great  painter,  sang  in  the  parlour,  and  Sir  Frederick 

Leighton,  President  of  the  British  Academy  was  one  of 

the  guests  of  the  house,  a  wonderfully  handsome  and 

agreeable  man.  *  *  *  pApA  »* 


440  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

Mr.  Choate  was  a  guest  at  the  dinner  of  the  Friendly 
Sons  of  St.  Patrick  at  Delmonico's  on  St.  Patrick's  Day, 
1893,  and  made  remarks  which  were  reported  the  next 
morning  in  The  Sun,  with  the  reporter's  embellishments, 
as  follows: 

"After  a  few  graceful  compliments,  he  went  on  to  say 
that  he  would  not  speak  upon  the  subject  nearest  to 
Irish  hearts,  home  rule.  'I  leave  that,'  he  said,  'to 
Mr.  Depew,  who,  I  believe,  is  to  come  in  late.  I  leave 
it  to  Mr.  Depew  and  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  understand 
it  so  much  better  than  I.  But  I  prefer  to  speak  upon 
a  kindred  subject  more  familiar  to  me.  That  is,  how 
Irishmen  rule  away  from  home. 

"  'This  is  the  day  we  celebrate.  This  is  the  day  all 
Americans  celebrate.  This  is  the  day  that  makes  the 
streets  all  over  municipalities  impassable.  This  morn- 
ing I  put  on  my  tall  hat  and  my  shamrock  scarf  and  set 
out  with  the  idea  of  joining  in  the  celebration.  The  first 
man  I  met  was  Recorder  Smyth.  I  met  him  at  a  barber 
shop.  He  was  preparing  for  the  day  that  smooth,  that 
smiling,  that  implacable,  that  terrible  face  of  his.' 

"There  was  wild  laughter  and  applause  at  this,  and 
those  far  away  arose  to  look  where  everybody  was  look- 
ing, to  the  foot  of  the  table,  where  the  Recorder  sat  blush- 
ing and  laughing. 

'"I  will  not  call  upon  him  to  stand  up  and  be  identi- 
fied,' continued  Mr.  Choate,  and  it  was  twenty  seconds 
before  he  could  get  a  further  hearing,  so  joyously  was 
this  allusion  to  the  Gardner  trial  received. 

"  'But,  gentlemen,  you  missed  one  feature  for  your 
procession.  How  your  parade  would  have  been  glori- 
fied,' here  Mr.  Choate  waved  his  hand  towards  the  rep- 


THE  NINETIES  441 

resentatives  of  the  New  England,  the  St.  Andrew,  the 
Southern,  and  the  St.  George  Societies  present,  'if  you 
had  led  captive  and  bound  at  your  chariot  wheels  the 
representatives  of  these  downtrodden  nationalities.  How 
my  brother  of  the  New  England  Society  would  have 
looked  marching  there  with  the  badge  of  his  society  upon 
his  breast.  And  my  brother  of  the  Holland  Society, 
1  Mr.  De  Peyster,  the  representative  of  the  last  remaining 
relic  of  the  Dutch  who  once  thought  New  York  belonged  to 

•  them.     And  this  representative  of  the  Southern  Society, 
of  the  Southerners  who  have  come  here  to  see  what  they 

1  could  find,  and  have  captured  and  captivated  New  York. 

"  'All  these  might  well  have  been  at  your  chariot  wheels. 

For  what  offices,  great  or  small,  have  the  Irishmen  not 

1  taken?    What  spoils  have  they  not  carried  away?    From 

:  Mayor  Gilroy — I  am  glad  to  hear  your  applause.     I  am 

•  the  only  man  here  tonight,  I  doubt  not,  who  didn't  vote 
!  for  Mayor  Gilroy.  I  voted  for  the  other  man.  I've  for- 
;  gotten  who  he  was.  But  it  is  no  matter  who  it  was.  No 
;  man  could  stand  against  Thomas  F.  Gilroy  and  his 
1  seventy-five  thousand  majority. 

'"But,  gentlemen,  now  that  you  have  done  so  much 
i  for  America,  now  that  you  have  made  it  all  your  own, 
what  do  you  propose  to  do  for  Ireland?  How  long  do 
you  propose  to  let  her  be  the  political  football  of  Eng- 
land? Poor,  downtrodden,  oppressed  Ireland!  Hered- 
itary bondsmen,  know  you  not  who  would  be  free 
themselves  must  strike  the  blow?' 

"At  this  there  was  laughter  and  several  cries  of  'We 
can't'  and  'There  isn't  any  way  to  do  it.'  Mr.  Choate 
went  on: 

"'You  have  learned  how  to  govern  by  making  all  the 
soil  of  all  other  countries  your  own.    Have  you  not  learned 


442  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

how  to  govern  at  home;  how  to  make  Ireland  a  land  of 
home  rule?' 

"There  was  a  confused  murmur  in  the  room,  some 
laughter,  some  excited  gesticulation,  a  few  angry  looks, 
several  cries  of  'That's  too  strong.  Choate  is  carrying 
his  sarcasm  too  far.'  Mr.  Choate  went  on  with  a  sar- 
castic smile  of  good  humor  on  his  face: 

"  'There  is  a  cure  for  Ireland's  woes  and  feebleness 
today.  It  is  a  strong  measure  that  I  advocate.  But 
I  am  here  tonight  to  plead  for  Ireland  with  the  retaining 
fee  in  my  possession,  and  I  propose  to  plead.  I  propose 
that  you  should  all,  with  your  wives  and  your  children, 
and  your  children's  children,  with  the  spoils  you  have 
taken  from  America  in  your  hands,  set  your  faces  home- 
ward, land  there,  and  strike  the  blow.' 

"At  this  there  was  some  laughter,  the  representatives 
of  the  other  societies  doing  most  of  it,  there  were  many 
angry  looks,  several  cries  of  'No!  No!'  and  two  or 
three  hisses,  half  suppressed.  Mr.  Choate,  still  smiling 
and  sarcastic,  went  on: 

"'Gentlemen,  the  G.  O.  M.  needs  you.  He  is  clamor- 
ing for  you.  And  the  G.  O.  P.,  to  which  I  belong,  has 
been  so  severely  disciplined  that  it  can  get  along  with- 
out you.  Think  what  it  would  mean  for  both  countries 
if  all  the  Irishmen  of  America,  from  Atlantic  to  Pacific, 
should  shoulder  their  muskets  and  march  to  the  relief 
of  their  native  land !  Then,  indeed,  would  Ireland  be 
for  Irishmen  and  America  for  Americans ! ' 

"There  was  some  applause,  but  scarcely  any  laughter. 
The  banqueters  were  receiving  Mr.  Choate's  good-hu- 
mored sarcasms  silently  and  were  waiting  anxiously  to 
see  just  how  far  he  would  go.    Mr.  Choate  went  on: 

"  'As  you  landed  the  G.  O.  M.  would  come  down  to 


THE  NINETIES  443 

receive  you  with  paeans  of  assured  victory.  As  you  de- 
parted the  Republicans  would  go  down  to  see  you  off 
and  to  bid  you  a  joyful  farewell.  Think  of  the  song  you 
would  raise.  "We  are  coming,  Father  Gladstone,  fifteen 
millions  strong !"  How  the  British  lion  would  hide  his 
diminished  head!  For  such  an  array  would  not  only 
rule  Ireland,  but  all  other  sections  of  the  British  empire. 
What  could  stand  before  you? 

" '  It  would  be  a  terrible  blow  to  us.  It  would  take  us 
a  great  while  to  recover.  Feebly,  imperfectly,  we  should 
look  about  us  and  learn  for  the  first  time  in  seventy- 
five  years  how  to  govern  New  York  without  you.  But 
there  would  be  a  bond  of  brotherhood  between  the  two 
nations.  Up  from  the  whole  soil  of  Ireland,  up  from  the 
whole  soil  of  America,  would  arise  one  paean — "  Erin  go 
bragh,,!,,, 

These  remarks  made  a  great  stir.  According  to  The 
Sun  reporter,  as  quoted,  they  were  not  entirely  acceptable 
to  the  Friendly  Sons  at  the  dinner,  but  there  they  went 
off  comparatively  well  for  they  had  Mr.  Choate's  cheer- 
ful countenance  and  ingratiating  manner  back  of  them. 
But  read  in  cold  print  they  gave  even  less  satisfaction. 
The  organs  of  Irish  opinion,  when  they  got  around  to  it, 
were  very  strong — even  harsh — in  their  deprecation  of 
Mr.  Choate's  attitude  towards  the  Irish  in  New  York. 
Friendly  Sons  and  their  compatriots  concluded  that  he 
had  scoffed  at  them  beyond  what  they  could  afford  to 
overlook,  and  their  murmurs  gathered  volume  until  they 
reached  the  dimensions  of  a  roar.  Probably  it  amused 
Mr.  Choate;  that  it  disturbed  him  there  is  no  evidence 
whatever,  but  it  made  him  a  leading  topic  in  all  the  papers 
for  weeks  afterwards.    In  the  long  and  very  good  article 


444 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


about  him  that  happened  in  The  Tribune,  unsigned,  on 
May  14,  there  is  this  allusion  to  that  feast: 


<<  *  *  * 


He  talked  unreservedly,  it  is  true,  to  the 
sons  of  St.  Patrick  the  other  evening,  but  his  satirical 
allusions  were  not  a  bit  more  strong  than  those  he  in- 
dulged in  twenty-five  years  ago  when  he  had  just  begun 
his  career  here.  In  a  speech  before  the  New  Englan< 
Society  at  Delmonico's  in  1 865  with  Recorder  (afterwards 
Governor)  Hoffman,  General  Hancock,  Admiral  Farragut, 
Theodore  Tilton,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bellows  and  Senator  Lane 
among  the  invited  guests,  he  welcomed  the  representative 
of  the  St.  Patrick's  Society  with  these  playful  remarks: 
'And  now,  let  me  pay  the  last  and  best  respects  to  the 
representative  of  St.  Patrick,  who,  in  the  disguise  of  a 
hearty  sympathizer,  comes  among  us,  nevertheless,  as 
our  master  and  despot;  and  yet  I  regard  the  presence  of 
this  genial  stranger  tonight  as  an  augury  of  uncommon 
hope,  because  of  the  assurance  that  it  gives  us  that  in 
this  great  Irish  city,  the  seat  of  St.  Patrick's  power,  where 
he  sits  enthroned  in  majesty  to  govern  not  only  us  but 
in  these  latter  days  the  prophetic  Republic  of  Ireland, 
too,  he  has  determined  in  the  goodness  of  his  heart  that 
yet  a  little  longer,  at  least  a  twelvemonth  more,  he  will 
tolerate  the  presence  of  the  hated  Yankee;  and  I  doubt 
not,  as  we  hold  our  license  at  his  will  and  pleasure,  we 
shall  have  leave,  at  least  until  our  next  anniversary  comes 
around,  to  peddle  our  little  notions  and  get  rid  of  our 
little  wares  in  this  metropolis  without  the  dread  of  his 
shillelah  being  cracked  about  our  heads.'  " 

The  Tribune  writer  went  on  to  consider  Mr.  Choate's 
qualities  and  achievements  as  a  lawyer  and  to  expound 


THE  NINETIES  445 

some  of  his  legal  labors,  fresher  then  in  tne  public  memory 
than  now,  as  follows: 

"  'The  great  lawyers/  said  William  G.  Peckham,  the 
well  known  authority  on  elevated  railroad  land  damage 
matters,  'who  were  his  predecessors,  such,  for  example, 
as  his  relative,  Rufus  Choate,  tried  trifling  country  law- 
suits all  their  days,  with  an  occasional  case  of  magnitude, 
but  even  this  involved  an  amount  which  would  be  in- 
considerable in  the  present  Choate' s  practice.  So  it 
was  with  Erskine  and  Nicholas  Hill,  and  even  Daniel 
Webster.  It  is  frequently  remarked  in  court  circles  that 
the  great  lawyers  who  are  Mr.  Choate's  contemporaries 
divide  among  them  one-half  of  the  business  of  the  first 
magnitude,  and  Mr.  Choate  has  the  other  half  to  himself. 
Now,  why  is  it?  His  method  goes  right  home  to  the 
human  heart,  whether  it  be  the  heart  of  a  judge  or  the 
heart  of  a  juryman,  just  the  same  as  he  reaches  the  centre 
of  the  affections  of  the  Germans  who  go  from  Tompkins 
Square  to  Cooper  Institute.  Where  other  lawyers  are 
solemn  and  portentous,  or  wild  or  otherwise  unpleasant, 
Mr.  Choate  is  humorous  and  human.  Other  lawyers 
in  all  the  annals  of  legal  eloquence  tried  to  reach  human 
nature  by  some  circuitous  method,  or  by  some  method 
that  human  nature  balked  at.  Mr.  Choate  talks  just 
as  high  as  the  heart  of  the  judge  or  juryman.  He  puts 
on  no  lofty  airs,  but  often  speaks  with  his  hands  in  his 
pockets.  He  does  not  strive  to  stir  up  dark  passions. 
While  he  is  always  a  little  keener,  a  little  finer,  and  more 
witty  than  the  man  in  the  box  or  on  the  bench,  yet  he  is 
always  a  brother  man  to  him.' 

"A  history  of  Mr.  Choate's  professional  career  would 
require  a  sketch  of  a  majority  of  the  great  cases  that 
have  been  tried  here  since  the  war.     It  would  involve, 


446  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

among  others,  the  story  of  the  Tweed  Ring  prosecution, 
of  the  protracted  investigation  of  the  case  of  General 
Fitz-John  Porter,  whom  he  defended  at  West  Point  be- 
fore the  board  of  officers  appointed  by  President  Hayes, 
which  resulted  in  the  reversal  of  the  judgment  of  the 
original  court-martial;  of  the  celebrated  libel  suit  in- 
stituted by  Gaston  L.  Feuardent  against  General  Ces- 
nola,  whom  Mr.  Choate  successfully  defended;  of  the 
Tilden  will  case;  the  contest  over  Commodore  Vander- 
bilt's  millions;  the  Chinese  exclusion  case,  in  which  he 
argued  against  the  validity  of  the  act;  his  appeal  to 
the  Supreme  Court  in  behalf  of  David  Neagle,  who  shot 
Judge  Terry  in  defence  of  Justice  Field,  and  whose  act 
was  decreed  to  be  no  violation  of  the  law;  the  Stokes 
will  fight;  the  case  of  Manchester  against  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court; 
the  Behring  Sea  controversy,  and  the  memorable  suit 
brought  by  David  Stewart  in  1881  against  CoIIis  P.  Hunt- 
ington for  the  payment  of  a  large  sum  of  money,  which 
the  plaintiff  declared  was  due  him  under  the  terms  of 
agreement  that  he  made  with  Huntington  at  the  time 
when  he  purchased  a  block  of  Central  Pacific  stock  from 
the  defendant. 

"This  case  was  one  of  unusual  interest  to  the  public. 
AH  the  persons  involved  were  well  known,  and  the  recital 
of  the  doings  of  the  'Big  Four'  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  Hunt- 
ington, Hopkins,  Crocker  and  Stanford,  in  connection 
with  the  Central  Pacific's  construction,  which  was  brought 
out  by  the  trial,  made  an  entertaining  chapter  at  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Choate,  who  appeared  alone  for  Mr.  Stewart. 
His  rival  in  a  dozen  contests,  Francis  N.  Bangs,  whose 
passages  at  arms  with  him  in  the  Cesnola  case  will  long 
be  remembered,  and  Roscoe  Conkling,  then  in  the  prime 
of  his  intellectual  life  and  entirely  devoted  to  his  law 


THE  NINETIES  447 

practice,  had  been  retained  by  Mr.  Huntington.  They 
made  a  formidable  pair  of  defenders.  Mr.  Choate  made 
the  most  of  this  fact  with  the  jury.  'I  doubt,  gentle- 
men,' he  said,  'whether  any  man  ever  had  to  contend 
alone  against  so  powerful  a  combination.  In  the  first 
place,  there  is  the  defendant  himself,  one  of  the  three 
great  railway  monarchs  of  the  world,  all  powerful  through- 
out the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  and  he  has  called 
here  to  aid  him,  as  was  his  right,  the  greatest  powers  of 
the  bar,  the  most  astute,  the  most  crafty — in  the  best 
sense  of  the  word — the  most  skilful  of  our  profession, 
and,'  with  a  graceful  wave  of  the  hand  towards  Mr.  Conk- 
ling,  'the  very  Demosthenes  of  our  time.  And  yet  I  do 
not  feel  entirely  alone  or  entirely  unarmed.  I  have  the 
evidence  in  this  case  with  me,  and  if  I  can  put  that  little 
weapon  in  my  sling  and  aim  straight  at  his  forehead, 
the  recent  Goliath  of  the  continent  is  bound  to  bite  the 
dust.' 

"The  marvellous  rapidity  with  which  he  takes  ad- 
vantage of  every  point  and  sees  the  elements  in  every 
situation  that  are  favorable  to  him  was  exhibited  to  ad- 
vantage in  this  trial  again  and  again.  Mr.  Huntington 
while  on  the  stand  proved,  from  the  layman's  point  of 
view,  a  poor  witness  for  Mr.  Choate.  His  memory  was 
sadly  defective.  Mr.  Choate' s  most  skilful  cross-ques- 
tioning could  elicit  from  him  little  if  any  specific  informa- 
tion as  to  the  operations  of  the  famous  Contract  and 
Finance  Company.  His  counsel  smiled  blandly  and  the 
plaintiff  himself  looked  gloomy.  But  observe  with  what 
telling  effect  Mr.  Choate  used  this  temporary  triumph 
of  his  opponent : 

"  'My  learned  friends  upon  the  other  side,'  said  he 
in  closing,  'have  expressed  a  little  regret  and  a  kind  of 
rebuke  for  me  because  I  described  their  client  as  the 


448 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


Jay  Gould  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  Now,  gentlemen,  a  great 
historical  person  like  Mr.  Gould  we  speak  of  without 
personality,  and  I  challenge  your  attention  to  the  ap- 
pearance of  this  defendant  on  the  stand  to  say  whether 
he  has  not  filled  the  bill.  Remember  that  dreadful  Black 
Friday,  when  the  wizard  of  the  New  York  stock  market 
pulled  the  wires  behind  the  scenes  that  brought  destruc- 
tion upon  so  many  honest  men,  and  afterwards,  when 
called  in  a  court  of  justice  to  describe  the  proceedings 
of  that  day,  he  knew  absolutely  nothing  about  it,  al- 
though it  was  all  his  own  work.  And  positively  as  to  a 
certain  check  he  had  drawn,  he  could  not  say  whether 
it  was  for  five  million  or  ten  million  dollars.  When  Mr. 
Huntington  took  this  stand  and  swore  that  as  to  the 
dividends  he  had  received  from  the  Contract  and  Finance 
Company  between  October,  1867,  and  May,  1870,  he 
could  not  tell  whether  they  were  one  million  or  two  mil- 
lions, three  millions,  four  millions  or  five  millions — did 
he  not  fill  the  bill?' 

"Mr.  Conkling  had  insisted  that  his  client  was  not 
responsible  for  what  his  associates  had  done  on  the  Pacific 
Coast.  To  this  Mr.  Choate  responded:  'Well,  gentle- 
men, it  reminds  me  of  an  alibi  that  was  introduced  in 
another  famous  case.  You  remember  when  Mr.  Tony 
Weller  was  called  in  consultation  about  the  defence  of 
Mr.  Pickwick,  in  whose  arms  the  fair  widow  who  sued 
him  had  been  found  dissolving  in  tears,  and  he  said: 
"Sammy,  my  advice  to  you  is  to  prove  an  alibi."  Some 
defendants,  when  brought  to  trial,  believe  in  character, 
and  some  in  an  alibi,  but  I  advise  you  to  stick  to  an  alibi 
and  let  the  character  go.  This  double  of  Mr.  Huntington, 
under  whose  cover  he  exists,  and  is  in  two  places  at  the 
same  time — on  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific — my  dis- 
tinguished friend  said  it  was  a  romance,  the  connection 


THE  NINETIES  449 

between  him  and  Mark  Hopkins.  I  thought,  gentlemen, 
of  that  other  romance,  the  story  of  "My  Double  and 
How  He  Undid  Me,"  a;nd  it  seems  that  the  defendant 
was  then  to  undo  him  in  this  case — this  Mark  Hopkins, 
by  whom  he  was  represented  absolutely,  completely, 
and  without  any  limitations  whatever,  so  that  you  might 
say  that  when  Mr.  Huntington  took  snuff  on  the  At- 
lantic Coast,  Mr.  Hopkins  sneezed  on  the  Pacific.' 

"A  little  further  on  he  paid  a  glowing  tribute  to  Mr. 
Conkling — one,  it  is  said,  that  the  ex-Senator  held  in 
grateful  remembrance.  'However  we  may  differ,'  said 
Mr.  Choate,  'one  from  another,  or  all  of  us  from  him, 
we  owe  the  Senator  one  debt  of  gratitude  for  standing 
always  steadfast  and  incorruptible  in  the  halls  of  cor- 
ruption. Shadrach,  Meshach  and  Abednego  won  im- 
mortal glory  for  passing  one  day  in  the  fiery  furnace, 
but  he  has  been  twenty  years  there  and  has  come  out 
without  even  the  smell  of  smoke  upon  his  garments.' 

"There  were  sharp  encounters  every  day  between 
these  powerful  adversaries,  but  Mr.  Choate  never  failed 
to  hold  his  own  and  usually  came  off  victorious.  In  the 
course  of  one  of  his  speeches  Mr.  Conkling  quoted  a  pub- 
lished description  of  Mr.  Choate's  appearance.  It  pro- 
voked a  laugh,  in  which  the  victim  joined  good-naturedly. 
But  when  he  came  to  reply  he  turned  the  laugh  on  his 
opponent.  'My  learned  friend,'  he  blandly  remarked, 
'has  been  a  little  personal.  He  has  seen  fit  to  quote  for 
your  entertainment  and  that  of  the  learned  Court  and 
this  audience  a  description  of  my  face  and  features  that 
he  gathered  from  a  newspaper.  I  do  not  like  to  lie  under 
this  imputation  and  I  will  return  it.  But,  gentlemen, 
not  from  any  newspaper — oh,  no!  I  will  paint  his  pic- 
ture as  it  has  been  painted  by  an  immortal  pen.  I  will 
give  you  a  description  of  him  as  the  divine  Shakespeare 


450  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

painted  ft,  for  he  must  have  had  my  learned  friend  in 
his  eye  when  he  said: 

"'  "See  what  a  grace  is  seated  on  this  brow; 
Hyperion's  curl,  the  front  of  Jove  himself; 
An  eye,  like  Mars,  to  threaten  and  command — 

A  combination  and  a  form  indeed 
Where  every  god  did  seem  to  set  his  seal, 
To  give  the  world  assurance  of  a  man."  ' 

"In  the  general  laughter  that  greeted  this  quotation 
Mr.  Conkling  joined.  'Well  done,'  said  he.  'You  stated 
that  first  class,  Choate/ 

"His  tilts  with  Mr.  Bangs,  however,  were  most  fre- 
quent and  most  severe.  Nothing  could  be  more  striking 
than  the  contrast  in  the  manner  of  the  two  contestants. 
Mr.  Bangs  was  impulsive,  excitable;  Mr.  Choate  has 
never  yet,  it  is  said,  been  known  to  lose  control  of  himself 
in  court.  No  matter  what  happens,  no  matter  what  is 
said,  he  invariably  remains  cool  and  complacent.  This 
gave  him  an  important  advantage  over  Mr.  Bangs,  who 
remarked  more  than  once  that '  his  life  would  be  shortened 
by  that  fellow  Choate.'  But  he  was  able  to  give  hard 
blows,  too.  Once  in  the  Cesnola  trial  Mr.  Choate  stag- 
gered him  by  the  apt  quotation  of  some  section  of  statu- 
tory law.  It  was  so  thoroughly  applicable  to  the  point 
under  discussion  that  Mr.  Bangs  was  at  a  loss  for  a  mo- 
ment how  to  meet  it.  'My  learned  brother  and  P,  he 
began,  'tried  a  case  or  two  before  Judge  Wheeler  some 
time  ago.  He  is  now  using  what  knowledge  of  the  law 
he  managed  to  glean  from  me  then  before  this  Court. 
This  I  submit  is  hardly  fair/ 

"Mr.  Choate  instantly  rejoined,  'Really,  I  had  for- 
gotten that  you  ever  said  anything  relating  to  the 
law/ 


THE  NINETIES  451 

"'Very  likely,'  responded  the  other,  'but  whatever 
law  you  give  is  easily  traceable  to  its  source.  Modesty 
forbids  me  saying  more/ 

"Mrs.  Paran  Stevens  was  sued  by  Richard  M.  Hunt, 
the  architect,  for  services  in  building  the  Victoria  Hotel. 
In  summing  up  Mr.  Choate  said:  'For  the  last  week, 
gentlemen  of  the  jury,  we  have  been  engaged  here  in 
bitter  contest.  It  has  tired  us  all.  Coming  by  my  chil- 
dren's nursery  this  morning  it  was  soothing  to  the  ear 
to  hear  the  children  recite  the  nursery  ballad  of  'The 
House  that  Jack  Built';  for  this,  gentlemen,  is  the  house 
that  Jack  built.  My  client  is  the  unfortunate  Jack,  and,' 
with  deference,  'you,  madam,'  bowing  gracefully  to  Mrs. 
Stevens,  'may  be  called  the  maiden  that  milked  the  cow 
with  the  crumpled  horn,  which  might  stand  for  the  some- 
what crumpled  Stevens  estate.'  The  Stevens  estate  was 
in  continual  litigation  for  many  years. 

"One  of  Mr.  Choate's  friends  describes  a  scene  before 
Judge  Freedman  some  years  ago.  The  counsel  for  the 
plaintiff,  John  E.  Parsons,  denounced  the  defendant 
insurance  company  as  'vampires,  bloodless  monsters 
that  feed  on  the  blood  of  the  people,'  etc.  It  was  a  savage 
address  of  the  old-fashioned  style.  When  Mr.  Parsons 
sat  down  the  whole  courtroom  seemed  to  buzz.  Mr. 
Choate  was  lying  back  in  his  chair,  with  his  eyes  to  the 
ceiling  and  his  hands  in  his  pockets.  'Mr.  Choate,  it  is 
your  turn,'  said  the  Judge,  and  Mr.  Choate  arose,  still 
with  his  hands  in  his  pockets.  'If  your  Honor  please, 
and  gentlemen  of  the  jury,'  said  Mr.  Choate,  'do  you 
know  what  a  vampire  really  is?  Look  at  the  Quaker 
gentleman  who  is  the  president  of  this  company.  He 
sits  there  in  his  Quaker  clothes  and  white  neckcloth. 
Look  at  that  innocent  young  man,  his  attorney,  who 


452  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

sits  next  him  and  has  a  smile  on  his  face.  You  thought 
vampires  were  something  out  of  the  way  when  Brother 
Parsons  described  them,  but  these  are  regular,  genuine 
vampires/ 

"The  excitement  of  the  spectators  merged  into  a  laugh 
and  then  into  a  feeling  friendly  to  the  speaker." 

A  pen-picture  of  Mr.  Choate,  travelling  on  his  daily 
beat,  made  by  a  Tribune  reporter  about  this  time  (Feb- 
ruary 19,  1893)  gives  a  very  pleasant  impression  of  him: 

"There  was  a  blockade  of  street  cars  at  Park  Row, 
just  in  front  of  the  Post  Office,  at  six  o'clock  last  night. 
A  tall  man,  with  pipe-stem  legs  and  a  slender  torso  which 
seemed  scarcely  capable  of  sustaining  the  massive,  tower- 
ing head,  sauntered  along,  with  one  hand  in  the  right 
trousers'  pocket,  deeply  absorbed  in  thought.  A  crowd 
was  awaiting  the  lifting  of  the  blockade.  The  man,  after 
a  careless  upward  glance,  scrambled  over  the  platforms 
of  two  cars  with  his  eyes  still  fixed  downward  as  if  in  a 
brown  study.  The  crowd  accepted  the  lesson.  He  en- 
tered a  Sixth  Avenue  'L'  car  in  which  he  took  the  only 
vacant  seat.  At  Chambers  street  a  poorly  dressed  woman 
entered.  No  one  stirred.  A  minute  afterward  the  man 
looked  up.  Bounding  from  his  seat,  hat  in  hand,  with 
a  low  bow  and  a  deeply  courteous  one,  he  said : — 'Allow 
me  to  offer  you  a  seat,  madam.'  With  thanks  the  woman 
accepted,  and  closely  watched  the  face  of  the  man,  which 
was  in  an  instant  again  wrapt  in  the  abstract  expression 
of  deep  meditation.  For  ten  blocks  the  woman's  eyes 
rested  on  that  strong,  intellectual  face.  Suddenly  she 
turned  to  a  man  sitting  at  her  side.  'Do  you  know  that 
gentleman?'  she  asked.     'That's  Joe  Choate,  the  great 


THE  NINETIES  453 

lawyer,'  was  the  reply.     'Oh,'  she  ejaculated  with  an 
air  of  relief,  '  I  was  sure  he  was  somebody.'  " 

This  absorbed  gentleman,  polite  to  women  in  the  street- 
cars, was  the  same  who  stirred  up  the  Sons  of  St.  Patrick 
a  month  later. 

To  His  Wife 

"New  York,  15  June  1893. 
"I  am  ever  so  sorry  that  I  cannot  come  up  tomorrow 
to  celebrate  your  birthday — my  great  red  letter  day. 
But  besides  having  to  go  to  Jersey  as  a  witness  to-mor- 
row afternoon,  I  am  booked  for  all  day  Saturday  on  the 
Viking  Ship,*  which  is  to  arrive  that  day  and  be  re- 
ceived by  our  Committee.  *  *  *  " 

(June  16.)  "What  a  pity  that  I  cannot  be  with  you 
tonight.  But  the  inexorable  and  inevitable  Vikings  are 
to  arrive  to-morrow  and  I  have  to  be  with  them.  To- 
day I  settled  the  last  but  one  of  my  remaining  cases,  so 
that  next  week  I  shall  really  earn  my  freedom.  Mrs. 
Baldwin's  case  is  all  that  now  remains  upon  my  hands, 
and  about  that  I  feel  very  solicitous.  She  has  suffered 
so  much  and  yet  has  such  tremendous  legal  obstacles  in 
her  way.  *  *  *  Last  night's  Post  has  such  an  excellent 
account  of  the  first  Commencement  of  the  Barnard  girls 
that  I  have  cut  it  out  and  enclose  it.  Mr.  Brownell  tells 
me  that  they  made  a  great  sensation  as  they  appeared 
upon  the  stage  and  were  received  with  overwhelming 
applause.  *  *  * 

"  I  have  advised  Mr.  Southmayd  who  seems  very  timid 
about  returning  to  his  house  in  Stockbridge,  either  to 
maintain  a  garrison,  or  to  get  married  and  support  a  wife. 

*  It  came  to  the  Chicago  Fair. 


454  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

I  don't  know  which  would  be  the  surest  safeguard.* 
Genl.  Bristow  asked  me  why  we  didn't  come  up  to  the 
Dodges'.  It  seems  they  went  and  had  a  nice  time.  I 
said  'we  couldn't — my  wife  was  packing.  Did  you  ever 
see  a  woman  in  the  packing  period?'  'Haven't  I?'  said 
he.  'Well'  said  I  'that  invitation  came  when  my  wife 
was  in  the  packing  season,  and  I  have  learned  long  ago 
to  let  a  woman  alone  at  that  time' — which  seemed  to 
please  Col.  Cannon  very  much  for  it  had  never  struck 
him  exactly  in  that  light.  I  suppose  that  you  still  read 
the  daily  reports  of  the  Lizzie  Borden  case.  Her  de- 
fense today  and  yesterday  has  come  out  very  strong, 
especially  her  sister  Emma's  evidence  and  of  course  she 
must  be  acquitted.  *  *  * 

"Evert  Jansen  Wendell  is  still  on  the  qui  vive  about 
my  portrait.     I  think  he  inclines  very  strongly  to  select 

Collins  to  paint  it.     What  would  you  say  to  that? 
#  #  *  » 

(June  19.)  "Today  has  been  one  of  the  hottest  days, 
but  the  weather  man  promises  that  tomorrow  the  ther- 
mometer will  be  100  in  the  shade.  However  I  have  got 
out  of  Court  for  good  and  shall  soon  be  able  to  close  up 
and  be  off.  I  got  a  fair  settlement  for  Dr.  Simmons  out 
of  the  Tilden  Estate  on  Friday,  and  today  have  done 
as  well  for  poor  Mrs.  Baldwin  out  of  the  Central  Road. 
Now  all  I  have  to  do  is  to  get  Mrs.  Drayton  and  the  As- 
tors  out  of  the  way. 

"I  had  a  long  talk  with  Mr.  Southmayd  today  about 
the  Stockbridge  burglaries.  He  of  course  will  do  his 
part  about  employing  a  proper  detective  which  I  think 
should  be  done.  I  shall  be  interested  to  hear  what  you 
and  Mr.  Searles  have  to  say.  *  *  *  -  „ 

*  Mr.  Southmayd  had  had  a  bad  encounter  with  a  burglar. 


THE  NINETIES  455 

To  His  Wife 

"Massachusetts  State  Building 
Jackson  Park,  Chicago,  8  Sept.  1893. 
"I  find  this  a  most  convenient  and  delightful  resting 
place,  surrounded  as  I  am  here  by  memorials  of  my  boy- 
hood in  the  pictures  and  relics  of  the  Essex  Institute, 
including  the  silhouettes  of  the  old  Salem  worthies  who 
were  familiar  objects  as  I  first  walked  the  streets.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  G" 

(September  10.)  "We  have  now  had  four  days  of 
the  Fair  and  are  all  pretty  tired  tonight  as  you  may 
imagine,  for  we  seem  to  have  seen  almost  everything, 
but  by  going  to  bed  at  nine  o'clock  and  putting  in  ten 
hours  of  sleep,  we  start  fresh  every  morning.  The  fair  is 
now  at  its  height  and  over  200,000  people  a  day  enter  the 
grounds.  Today  has  been  Grand  Army  day,  and  there 
was  a  great  procession  of  veterans  parading  everywhere, 
also  a  transportation  procession  embracing  every  kind  of 
vehicle  from  the  earliest  chair  of  the  Australians  hung 
on  two  poles  to  the  most  fashionable  drag  of  today 
crowded  with  gaily  dressed  swells.  *  *  * 

"The  United  States  building  which  I  went  through 
today  is  a  marvellous  exhibition,  and  we  had  no  idea 
before  what  vast  and  varied  industries  are  involved  in 
carrying  on  the  Government.  The  exhibit  of  the  War 
Department  especially  attracted  immense  crowds  and  it 
was  almost  impossible  to  elbow  one's  way  through  the 
crowd.  The  contrast  between  the  Massachusetts  and 
the  New  York  buildings  and  their  contents  is  very  morti- 
fying to  a  New  Yorker.  The  former  is  full  of  sentiment, 
displaying  all  the  best  things  and  men  in  her  history, 
while  New  York  with  all  her  great  traditions  and  noble 


456  JOSEPH   HODGES  CHOATE 

historical  characters  has  nothing  to  show  but  portraits 
of  Flower,  Shehan,  and  Sulzer,  and  Tammany's  feeblest 
representatives  and  Chauncey  Depew,  and  a  flashy  and 
costly  building  equipped  as  part  saloon  and  part  opera 
house.  The  only  redeeming  thing  about  it  is  that  the 
building  has  now  been  presented  to  Chicago  as  a  per- 
manent place  of  exhibition  for  the  industries  of  women. 
*  *  *  » 

"Michigan  Columbian  Club. 

(September  1 1 .)  "  *  *  *  At  Chicago  we  lunched  at 
the  Auditorium  and  a  very  poor  lunch  it  was.  What 
we  get  here  at  the  Fair  is  fine  in  comparison,  but  we  made 
amends  for  that  by  supping  at  the  Richelieu,  which  is  a 
superb  restaurant,  quite  equal  as  I  thought  to  Del- 
monico's.  In  the  interval  we  took  a  landau  and  drove 
through  Lincoln  Park,  saw  the  statues  of  Lincoln  and 
Grant,  and  a  third  which  our  driver  said  was  'Linny, 
if  we  knew  who  he  was'  but  which  proved  to  be  Linnaeus. 
The  crowd  was  for  all  the  world  like  a  New  York  crowd 
in  Central  Park,  though  I  thought  a  little  more  orderly. 
In  fact  we  have  hardly  seen  a  drunken  man  in  our  week 
in  Chicago.  It  seems  strange  to  come  a  thousand  miles 
from  home  and  find  the  same  kind  of  people,  dressed  in 
the  same  way  and  doing  exactly  the  same  things  as  those 
we  left  at  home.  *  *  * 

"I  keep  meeting  people  I  know,  or  rather  who  know 
me,  for  I  am  not  always  sure  of  them,  but  none  of  them 
very  interesting.  *  *  *  " 

(September  12.)  "  *  *  *  I  find  that  I  enjoy  the  out- 
side of  the  buildings  more  even  than  the  inside,  and  spend 
a  very  considerable  time  lounging  in  the  boats  or  else- 
where in.  the  Court  of  Honor.    Last  night  we  had  a  most 


THE  NINETIES  457 

delightful  evening  in  an  electric  launch  upon  the  water. 
The  whole  place  was  illuminated  and  seemed  like  a  piece 
of  Fairy  land.  On  the  way  down  the  canal  we  overtook 
a  very  musical  boat,  with  a  band  of  genuine  negro 
minstrels  on  board,  and  who  should  be  leading  them 
but  our  old  friend  Millet,*  who  seems  to  be  having  a 
capital  time  here  as  the  Director  of  Decorations.  *  *  * 
For  our  or  rather  my  especial  benefit,  as  he  said,  he  di- 
rected them  to  strike  up  '  Chicken  Pie '  and  '  Watermelons ' 
the  moral  of  each  of  which  songs  was  that  the  darkey  to 
get  the  true  flavor  of  either  must  borrow  the  materials 
of  the  first  and  steal  the  second.  *  *  *  " 

(September  14.)  "I  don't  know  why  half  the  people 
who'  come  to  the  Fair  do  not  get  sick,  or  an  epidemic 
break  out,  for  pears,  bananas  and  peaches  seem  to  be  the 
regular  diet  of  every  other  man  and  woman  you  meet. 
The  physical  achievements  of  the  women  here  are  be- 
yond belief.  They  swarm  everywhere  and  appear  to 
consider  mankind  are  all  proper  objects  for  them  to  sit 
upon.  *  *  *." 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  18  Octr.  1893. 
"I  shall  send  you  today  under  another  cover  a  pack- 
age of  your  missing  and  neglected  letters  which  I  am  sure 
will  make  you  very  happy.  What  a  good  time  we  had 
on  Sunday  and  Monday.  Sometimes  I  think  that  we 
are  hardly  thankful  enough  for  our  more  than  thirty 
years  of  bliss  which  has  been  great  indeed,  although  some 
of  our  crosses  have  been  so  bitterly  hard  to  bear — but 
together  what  is  there  that  we  cannot  bear?  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C" 

*  Frank  D.  Millet,  drowned  on  the  Titanic. 


458  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

To  the  Same 

"New  York,  2  Nov.  1893. 

"Since  I  wrote  you  last  night  I  have  invited  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Russell  Wilson  of  San  Francisco  to  come  up  with 
me  on  Friday  and  spend  Sunday  with  us  and  I  think 
they  will  come.  *  *  * 

"Please  don't  have  tame  ducks  for  dinner  or  lunch 

while  they  are  there.  *  *  *  T    „    ^  » 

J.  ri.  v-.. 

The  objection  to  tame  ducks  was  that  he  found  them 
hard  to  carve. 

To  the  Same 


«  *  *  * 


"New  York,  7  Nov.  1893 
The   Election  has  passed  off  quietly   here, 
but  I  don't  expect  to  hear  of  my  defeat  till  tomorrow 
morning.     That  will  give  me  a  free  summer  next  year. 

J.  H.  C" 

On  the  contrary,  he  was  elected  delegate  at  large  to 
the  Constitutional  Convention,  of  which  he  was  chosen 
president,  and  spent  most  of  the  summer  of  1894  in  di- 
recting its  labors.  He  was  busy  with  the  duties  pre- 
liminary to  the  Constitutional  Convention  when  he 
wrote  to  his  wife  from  Albany,  May  1,  1894: 

"  *  *  *  I  have  not  until  this  morning  had  one  moment 
to  myself  literally  not  one.  I  cannot  remain  in  my  room 
five  minutes  without  having  a  flood  of  people  pouring 
in,  nor  leave  it  without  being  tracked  by  petitioners  for 
these  thirty  or  more  paltry  offices  which  are  unhappily 
in  my  gift.    Then  as  I  had  to  dine  on  Tuesday  night  at 


THE  NINETIES  459 

Judge  Gray's  and  last  night  at  Mrs.  Pruyn's  it  devoured 
all  the  time. 

"As  I  expected  there  was  no  opposition  to  my  nomina- 
tion among  the  Republicans  and  probably  all  the  demo- 
cratic delegates  would  have  voted  for  me,  had  our  people 
not  made  it  a  party  matter.  What  little  I  had  to  say 
on  taking  the  chair  was  very  cordially  received  and  as 
the  Tribune  and  the  Sun  both  sneer,  it  must  have  been 
just  about  right.  Now  I  have  a  pretty  perplexing  task 
before  me  in  the  arrangement  of  the  Committees  on  which 
the  successful  accomplishment  of  the  real  work  of  the 
Convention  depends.  It  is  quite  possible  that  I  may 
have  to  go  to  Syracuse  tomorrow  for  consultation.  But 
I  hope  to  spend  Sunday  in  Stockbridge  any  way.  I  must 
have  a  day  or  two  to  myself  by  that  time.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 

To  His  Wife 

"Albany,  12  June  '94. 
*  *  *  How  much  you  must  have  enjoyed  Mrs. 
Hardcastle's  letter,  so  characteristic  and  satisfactory. 
I  couldn't  help  thinking  that  if  Woman's  Suffrage  must 
include  such  women  as  she,  and  there  are  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  them,  it  would  not  be  a  perfect  system, 
in  spite  of  the  claims  of  its  advocates.  Though  written 
and  directed  to  me,  it  was  evidently  intended  for  you 
and  Effie,  who  of  course  will  answer  it.  *  *  *  " 

(June  14.)  "The  old  men  in  the  Convention  amuse  me 
very  much.  The  older  they  are,  the  less  conscious  they 
seem  that  they  are  getting  'out  of  date'  as  dear  Mabel 
says.  It  seems  that  two  of  the  oldest  had  made  all  their 
plans  to  be  President  of  the  Convention,   not  having 


460  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

the  least  idea  that  a  man  could  ever  be  too  old  for  that. 
So  when  my  time  comes,  to  be  old  and  not  know,  I  must 
rely  upon  the  children  to  haul  me  off  whether  I  will  or 


no.  *  *  * 


J.  H.  G" 


He  got  away  to  the  Harvard  commencement,  where 
a  gold  medal  was  presented  to  President  Eliot  by  the 
alumni,  and  it  had  fallen  to  him  to  make  the  presenta- 
tion speech.  As  reported  in  the  Boston  Herald,  June 
29,  1894,  he  said  among  other  things: 

"It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  at  the  commencement 
dinner  in  1869  t0  welcome  our  then  youthful  president, 
on  behalf  of  the  young  alumni  of  that  day,  to  his  new 
duties  and  responsibilities;  and  perhaps  he  will  permit 
me  to  recall  that  occasion  and  contrast  its  spirit  with 
the  enthusiasm  which  pervades  our  ranks  today. 

"The  corporation  then  as  now,  composed  of  Fellows 
wise  and  sensible  and  old — the  youngest  of  them  sixty — 
had  resolved  upon  a  wild,  a  bold,  a  startling  departure 
from  all  the  traditions  of  the  college,  and  had  called  from 
the  ranks  of  the  alumni  a  mere  youth  of  thirty-five — a 
layman,  a  student  and  a  teacher  of  science,  an  advocate 
for  carrying  the  elective  system  to  its  last  result.  A  man 
who  believed  that  there  must  be  a  new  Harvard  to  justify 
the  old  Harvard,  of  which  her  sons  were  all  so  proud, 
he  was  to  fill  the  place,  the  chair,  that  since  the  days  of 
Dunster  had  been  occupied  by  older  men,  mostly  clergy- 
men, men  elected  because  they  were  already  famous 
men — men  who  believed  in  the  good  old  way,  who  be- 
lieved that  what  was  good  enough  for  the  fathers  was 
good  enough  also  for  the  sons,  and  that  the  chief  duty 
of  the  college  was  to  prepare  men  for  service  in  the  three 


THE  NINETIES  461 

old  and  time-honored  professions  which  from  time  im- 
memorial have  monopolized  the  name  of  learning. 

"Well,  the  overseers  had  taken  the  matter  up,  they 
had  cracked  their  whips  over  his  head,  as  overseers  are 
so  fond  of  doing,  and  then  had  ratified  his  nomination, 
and  we  came  on  the  next  commencement  day  to  eat  the 
commencement  dinner,  the  only  institution  at  Harvard 
that  time  has  not  improved.  The  aged  graduates,  from 
1800  down,  looked  a  little  blue.  Speech  after  speech 
was  made  by  dignified  venerable  orators,  full  of  praise 
of  the  past  of  Harvard,  but  without  any  allusion  or  word 
of  cheer  to  its  young  president,  who  was  about  to  take 
its  future  destinies  upon  his  shoulders.  At  last,  as  the 
sun's  declining  rays  shot  horizontally  across  Harvard 
Hall,  the  presiding  officer,  in  a  moment  of  absence  of 
mind  I  suppose,  called  upon  one  of  Mr.  Eliot's  admirers 
who  had  known  him  from  boyhood,  who  believed  in  his 
possibilities,  and  who  then,  as  now,  was  willing  to  say 
what  he  thought;  and  immediately  the  audience  turned 
its  back  on  the  past  and  looked  at  the  future. 

"He  ventured  to  hold  up  that  first  and  finest  example 
in  the  art  gallery  of  Harvard,  the  picture  of  its  five  suc- 
cessive presidents,  sitting  side  by  side  as  they  sat  in  life, 
and  he  invoked  upon  the  head  of  the  new  and  youthful 
president  this  blessing:  that  he  might  combine  the  vir- 
tues of  all  the  five  in  his  life  and  conduct  as  president 
in  the  place  that  they  had  occupied — the  rugged  honesty 
and  strength  of  Quincy,  the  effective  speech  of  Everett, 
the  gentle  modesty  of  Sparks,  the  genial  culture  of  Fel- 
ton,  and  the  never-failing  wisdom  of  Walker — and  apply 
them  to  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  consecrated 
office  that  he  had  inherited  from  them. 

"And,  brethren,  has  he  justified  that  hope?    Has  he 


462  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

proved  himself  worthy  of  the  confidence  you  placed  in 
him  twenty-five  years  ago?  Has  he  accomplished  the 
work  that  you  gave  into  his  hands?  Has  he  kept  this, 
our  dear,  old  Harvard,  abreast  with  the  ever  onward 
march  of  life,  of  energy,  of  prosperity,  which  in  one  genera- 
tion has  created  a  new  America  out  of  the  ashes  of  war 
and  rebellion? 

"I  leave  you  to  answer  the  question  as  you  have  an- 
swered it.  I  could  not  answer  it  in  his  presence  without 
shocking  his  modesty. 

"  *  *  *  He  said  in  his  inaugural  address  that  a  uni- 
versity is  not  built  in  the  air,  but  it  rests  upon  social 
and  literary  foundations  that  preceding  generations  have 
bequeathed,  and  he  concluded  that  memorable  address, 
which  many  of  you  doubtless  heard,  delivered  in  the 
presence  of  all  that  was  great  and  good  and  glorious  in 
Harvard,  by  this  solemn  promise — that  the  future  of  the 
university  should  not  be  unworthy  of  its  past;  and  what 
a  glorious  past  it  had  already  enjoyed ! 

"The  hands  of  the  Puritan  fathers  had  planted  it; 
the  bequest  of  the  faithful  living  and  dying,  in  two  cen- 
turies, had  watered  it;  it  had  grown  with  the  growth 
of  the  colony.  AH  generations,  from  Winthrop  down, 
had  been  busy  in  building  it;  all  the  energy,  all  the 
thought,  all  the  life  of  Massachusetts  had  found  expres- 
sion here;  all  the  struggles  for  freedom,  all  the  aspira- 
tions for  national  life,  all  those  controversies  and  great 
upheavals  of  opinion  through  which  this  great  common- 
wealth worked  its  way  at  last  out  of  the  dark  night  of 
intolerance,  bigotry  and  superstition  into  the  broad  sun- 
light of  liberty,  had  left  their  indelible  marks  upon  Har- 
vard College. 

"Her  alumni  had  been  at  the  front  in  every  move- 


THE  NINETIES  463 

ment  for  light  or  liberty.  In  the  revolution,  Warren 
and  Hancock  and  the  Adamses,  and  in  the  Civil  War, 
then  so  lately  ended,  Wadsworth  and  Shaw  and  the 
Lowells,  had  been  but  the  leaders  and  representatives 
of  the  long  roll  of  honor  among  the  list  of  her  graduates. 

"AH  that  was  choicest  and  best  in  the  learning,  the 
culture,  the  character  of  this  great  state  had  been  gath- 
ered here,  and  Harvard  was  ready  at  the  parting  of  the 
way,  waiting  for  her  young  and  enthusiastic  president  to 
lead  her  on,  and  he  has  led  her  on,  as  he  promised  that 
he  would,  to  a  future  that  was  worthy  of  that  great  past. 

"Brethren,  I  began  by  saying  that  I  would  not  praise 
President  Eliot  to  his  face,  and  I  have  kept  my  word. 
But  you  cannot  speak  the  truth  within  these  sacred  walls, 
from  which  the  worthies  of  two  centuries  look  down,  but 
that  every  word  will  echo  to  his  honor. 

"His  brain  conceived,  his  hand  has  guided,  his  prudence 
has  controlled,  his  courage  has  sustained,  this  great  ad- 
vance; and  if  I  might  in  his  presence  be  permitted  to 
ascribe  to  him  one  cardinal  virtue  which  comprehends 
them  all,  I  would  say  that  he  has  always  had  as  his  watch- 
word Harvard's  perennial  countersign,  'Veritas.' 

"He  has  always  been  true — true  to  himself  and  true 
to  us;  true  to  his  own  convictions;  true  to  the  dreams 
of  his  youth;  true  to  the  promise  of  that  early  manhood, 
in  which  he  took  into  his  charge  the  affairs,  the  honor 
and  the  conscience  of  this  ancient  university. 

"And  so,  gentlemen,  in  your  name,  and  under  your 
commission,  I  bestow  upon  him  this  medal,  to  com- 
memorate this  day,  as  a  token  of  your  love  to  him  and 
of  your  loyalty  to  Harvard;  and  I  am  sure  that  he  will 
cherish  it  in  life  and  will  transmit  it  to  his  children  as 
your  priceless  gift." 


464  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

In  the  midst  of  all  his  other  labors  in  this  eventful 
year  he  was  threatened  with  the  nomination  for  Governor 
of  New  York,  but  he  writes  to  his  wife  from  Albany  on 
August  15:  "I  think  now  I  shall  escape  the  governor- 
ship, which  will  be  a  relief." 


To  His  Wife 

"Albany,  24  Aug.  1894. 
"  *  *  *  We  got  through  Mr.  Root's  judiciary  article 
last  night  and  it  is  very  much  approved  by  everybody. 
I  am  sorry  the  papers  are  making  so  much  fuss  about  me 
for  of  course  it  will  all  end  in  smoke.  Today  I  was  waited 
upon  by  a  delegation  from  the  Union  League  Club  of 
Chicago,  urging  me  to  accept  their  invitation  to  deliver 
an  address  there  on  Washington's  Birthday,  which  I 
positively  declined  some  time  ago.  What  do  you  think 
of  it  with  six  months  to  prepare?  *  *  *  " 

(August  27.)  "  I  am  so  delighted  to  see  that  Mr.  Mor- 
ton has  come  home  in  good  health  and  spirits  and  ready 
to  run  for  Governor.  It  will  get  me  clean  out  of  it,  to 
my  great  delight. 

"I  told  the  Convention  some  wholesome  truths  this 
afternoon  about  the  condition  of  municipal  affairs  in 
New  York  which  will  I  hope  do  good,  although  they 
seemed  to  set  a  few  of  the  Tammany  men  on  the  ragged 
edge.  *  *  *  " 

(September  14.)  "We  expect  to  sit  tonight  till  mid- 
night, grinding  away  at  amendments,  and  get  through 
all  we  can  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  finish  up  entirely 
in  the  three  days  of  next  week,  after  which  I  think  it 


THE  NINETIES  465 

will  be  very  hard  to  hold  the  delegation  together.  Be- 
sides business,  something  happens  every  day  to  call  several 
away.  One  gets  sick,  another  loses  his  mother-in-law, 
another  goes  home  by  telegraph  to  have  a  baby,  so  that 
though  we  have  cut  off  all  excuses  except  for  business, 
our  ranks  are  never  full.  *  *  *  " 


(Saturday  afternoon.)  "I  do  miss  Stockbridge  and 
every  dear  thing  in  it  so  much — wife,  children,  friends, 
house,  garden,  lands,  horses,  cows,  pigs,  not  to  speak 
of  the  donkey,  and  I  take  the  greatest  delight  in  the  col- 
lapse of  my  boom,  in  thinking  that  I  shall  not  be  called 
away  from  all  that  to  spend  the  winters  in  this  dreary 
Albany,  and  the  summers  in  trotting  over  this  great 
State  to  attend  county  fairs  and  cattle  shows.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  G" 

Here  is  a  brief  list  of  the  amendments  adopted  by  the 
convention,  to  the  labors  of  which  Mr.  Choate  and  many 
others  had  devoted  the  summer: 

Abolishing  the  office  of  coroner. 

Providing  that  no  bill  shall  be  passed  by  the  legisla- 
ture unless  it  shall  have  been  printed  and  upon 
the  files  for  at  least  three  days. 

Providing  that  the  speaker  of  the  assembly  shall  be 
the  next  in  order  of  succession  to  the  lieutenant- 
governor  when  the  gubernatorial  office  shall  be- 
come vacant. 

Doing  away  with  the  $5,000  maximum  limit  which 
the  law  had  fixed  as  the  sum  that  may  be  recov- 
ered in  actions  for  death  by  accident. 


466 


JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 


Providing  that  when  the  lieutenant-governor  shall 
refuse  to  put  a  question,  the  Senate  shall  be  at 
liberty  to  choose  a  presiding  officer  who  will  put  it. 

Providing  that  no  inmate  of  a  charitable  institution 
shall  be  deemed  to  have  gained  or  lost  a  residence 
by  reason  of  being  such  an  inmate. 

Permitting  the  sale  of  the  Syracuse  salt  springs. 

Allowing  the  use  of  ballot  machines  at  elections. 

Requiring  aliens  to  be  naturalized  ninety  days  before 
they  can  vote. 

Fixing  the  first  Wednesday  in  January  for  the  begin- 
ning of  the  legislature's  session. 

Prohibiting  public  officers  from  taking  passes. 

Forbidding  convict  contract  labor. 

In  relation  to  the  terms  of  State  officers — 

Fixing  the  terms  of  local  and  county  officers. 

For  the  separation  of  State  and  local  elections. 

Providing  for  non-partisan  election  boards. 

For  improving  the  judicial  system. 

To  preserve  the  State  forests. 

Fixing  the  membership  of  the  legislature  and  describ- 
ing the  Senate  districts. 

Farm  land  drainage. 

Educational  article. 

Charities  article. 

Permitting  the  sale  of  the  Hamburg  Canal  in  Buffalo. 

Authorizing  canal  improvements. 

For  home  rule  for  cities. 

Limiting  local  indebtedness. 

Making  the  amended  constitution  take  effect  on  Jan- 
uary 1,  1895. 

Prescribing  the  manner  in  which  future  amendments 
shall  be  made. 


THE  NINETIES  467 

Incorporating  civil  service  reform  in  the  constitution. 
Determining  the  liability  of  State  bank  stockholders. 
Making   bookmaking   and   poolselling   and   all   other 

forms  of  gambling  unlawful. 
Providing  for  the  reorganization  of  the  militia. 

These  amendments  were  accepted  by  the  voters  in 
November,  so  that  he  was  able  to  write  to  his  wife  from 
New  York  on  November  8: 

*  *  *  weJlj  we  have  won  everything.  My  sum- 
mer's work  has  not  gone  for  naught,  and  instead  of  perish- 
ing in  the  night,  it  has  now  become  a  part  of  the  history 
of  the  State.  The  apportionment  article  on  which  I  laid 
the  greatest  stress  seems  the  favorite,  and  what  is  most 
astounding  is  that  here  in  New  York  City  where  every 
Democrat  was  instructed  and  expected  to  vote  against 
it,  it  had  a  clear  majority  of  4,500  and  I  am  constantly 
receiving  telegrams  from  Delegates  in  various  parts  of 
the  State  telling  the  same  sort  of  story. 

"I  think  that  my  speech  and  letter  were  not  without 
effect,  and  you  will  be  interested  to  know  that  when  I 
said  to  Mr.  Godkin  that  I  was  sorry  he  took  the  wrong 
view  of  it,  for  it  seemed  to  me  that  he  had  written  with- 
out fairly  understanding  the  matter — to  which  he  re- 
plied 'Yes  I  am  sorry  too,  and  to  tell  you  the  truth  I 
voted  for  it.9  So  you  see  you  were  right  about  him.  Seth 
.  Low  also  published  a  statement  that  my  letter  had  satis- 
fied him  to  vote  for  it.    Of  course  I  receive  a  great  many 

congratulations,  of  which  I  enclose  you  two  specimens. 
*  *  * 

J.  H.  C." 


468  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

"Dear  Carrie,      "Washington>  D-  C-  5  Mch.  1895. 

*  *  *  The  Vanderbilt  divorce  seems  to  have  stirred 
to  their  depths  not  only  the  four  hundred  but  the  four 
hundred  thousand,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  Newspapers. 
"The  poor  reporters!  How  indignant  they  are  not 
to  be  able  to  get  at  any  of  the  particulars.  Imagine  what 
a  to-do  they  would  have  made  if  they  had  got  hold  of 
those,  if  they  can  cover  a  whole  broadside  with  nothing. 
I  think  the  case  has  been  well  managed  in  that  at  least 
there  has  been  no  filth  in  sight,  and  that  the  whole 
thing  has  been  kept  so  profoundly  secret.  *  *  * 

J.  H.  C" 

In  Mr.  Choate's  letters  there  are  occasional  complaints 
of  law  cases  because  they  were  dull.  He  did  not  like 
them  when  they  were  tiresome,  though  he  drudged  at 
them  just  as  faithfully.  Along  in  the  spring  of  1894  came 
the  retrial  of  the  case  of  Laidlaw  against  Sage,  as  to  which 
neither  he  nor  any  one  else  had  any  complaint  of  tire- 
someness to  make.  The  newspapers  were  delighted  with 
it  and  reported  it  daily  and  faithfully  with  suitable  head- 
lines as  the  best  item  of  local  news.  Mr.  Choate,  Noah 
Davis  and  two  others  were  for  Laidlaw  in  his  effort  to 
get  some  recompense  out  of  the  venerable  Russell  Sage 
for  injuries  done  to  him  by  the  bomb  of  a  lunatic  person 
who  came  to  Mr.  Sage's  office  with  intent  to  exact  a  tribute 
from  him.  For  Mr.  Sage  there  were  John  F.  Dillon, 
Colonel  E.  C.  James  and  Mr.  Taggart.  The  head-lines 
over  the  day's  report  of  the  trial  in  The  Sun  of  March 
28,  1894,  read:  "The  Laidlaw-Sage  Drama — Second 
production  of  the  piece  to  a  crowded  house — One  pro- 
scenium box  reserved  for  the  twelve  men  who  are  to  pass 


THE  NINETIES  469 

on  the  tragedy  and  who  meanwhile  are  not  forbidden 
to  enjoy  the  comedy  scenes."  That  was  the  spirit  in 
which  the  newspapers  took  the  trial.  It  was  great  enter- 
tainment, and  not  New  York  alone,  but  all  the  country, 
participated  in  the  joys  of  it.  The  New  York  corre- 
spondent of  the  Boston  Transcript  said,  April  1,  1894: 

"Mr.  Joseph  Choate,  who  is  one  of  the  few  men  in 
New  York  that  enjoy  national  note  on  other  grounds 
than  that  of  wealth,  has  more  than  usually  of  late  amused 
and  instructed  the  town.  The  extraction — or  better, 
perhaps,  the  extortion — of  money  in  public  from  Mr. 
Russell  Sage,  all  observers  agree,  is  much  more  enter- 
taining than  an  average  comedy,  and  during  the  first 
trial  of  Mr.  Laidlaw's  suit  against  him  last  May  the  gayety 
of  all  citizens  but  the  most  miserly  and  austere  rose  daily 
higher.  Mr.  Laidlaw,  it  will  be  remembered,  is  the 
broker's  clerk  whom  Mr.  Sage  (as  a  jury  has  now  deter- 
mined) held  in  front  of  him  as  a  sort  of  shield,  and  so 
imperilled,  during  that  momentous  five  minutes  at  the 
end  of  which  one  Norcross  dropped  a  bag  of  dynamite 
on  the  floor  of  the  money-lender's  office.  The  clerk  has 
never  recovered  from  the  physical  and  nervous  conse- 
quences of  the  ensuing  explosion,  and  Mr.  Sage — whose 
life,  as  most  men  believe,  he  saved — has  never,  with  sur- 
passing selfishness,  made  any  real  acknowledgment  for 
so  rare  a  service.  Last  spring  Mr.  Laidlaw's  suit  to  re- 
cover $50,000  from  Mr.  Sage  for  the  peril  in  which  the 
.  latter  had  almost  forcibly  placed  him  was  dismissed  on 
technical  grounds.  A  higher  court  ordered  a  second 
trial,  which,  with  Mr.  Choate  as  chief  counsel  for  the 
plaintiff,  last  week  brightened  the  whole  city. 

"Throughout  the  lawyer  seemed  at  his  best,  and  to 
win  the  case  for  Mr.  Laidlaw  was  apparently  the  warmest 


470  JOSEPH  HODGES  CHOATE 

desire  of  his  heart.  Even  more  than  in  his  closing  ad- 
dress to  the  jury  he  had  his  opportunity  in  his  long  ex- 
amination of  Sage  himself.  At  times  Mr.  Choate's  manner 
was  of  the  gentlest,  until  he  seemed  to  overflow  with 
ironic  sympathy  for  the  shortcomings  and  weaknesses, 
like  failing  memory,  of  the  old  man  from  whom  once 
and  again  he  was  subtly  drawing  damaging  admissions. 
His  soothing  familiarity  seemed  to  lure  Sage  to  confusion, 
albeit  Mr.  Choate's  cold,  eager,  brown  eyes  might  well 
have  warned  him,  until  keen  questions  as  to  wealth  and 
manner  of  life  and  quick  exposure  of  evasive  answers 
brought  the  money-lender  to  a  plight  that  might  have 
moved  a  stone  to  amused  pity.  If  the  town  has  laughed 
at  Sage  he  has  only  his  open  and  petty  meannesses,  the 
mixture  of  envy  and  contempt  in  human  nature  for  such 
a  life  as  his,  and  Mr.  Choate's  quick  and  penetrating  wit, 
to  blame.  In  such  hands,  shrewd  as  he  is  in  his  business, 
Mr.  Sage  could  but  make  a  sorry  figure,  pleading  a  doubt- 
less cause,  on  the  witness  stand.  Probably,  however, 
the  adverse  verdict  of  $25,000  for  Mr.  Laidlaw  distressed 
him  far  more  than  allusions  to  his  liking  for  ready-made 
clothes  or  disdainful  comment  upon  the  'puts'  and  'calls' 
that  have  brought  him  wealth.  Yet  from  the  point  of 
view  of  abstract  justice,  Mr.  Choate  doubtless  harped 
too  much  upon  the  money-lender's  riches  beside  his 
client's  poverty ;  while  for  present  effect  he  always  spared 
the  wriggling  old  man  just  at  the  point  where  sympathy 
might  begin  to  displace  contempt.  The  higher  courts 
will,  of  course,  be  asked  to  pass  upon  the  trial;  but  al- 
ready public  curiosity  is  eagerly  anticipating  the  col- 
lection of  the  judgment." 

Mr.  Choate  has  sometimes  been  accused  of  cruelty 
to  Russell  Sage,  and  of  abusing  his  own  remarkable  gifts 


THE  NINETIES  471 

of  torment  in  that  trial.  But  after  all,  Mr.  Sage  could 
more  suitably  be  classified  as  a  cash-register  than  as  a 
human  being,  and  in  skinning  him  Mr.  Choate  was  merely 
skinning  a  skinflint.  He  believed  in  the  justice  of  Laid- 
Iaw's  claim  and  was  absolutely  scornful  of  the  meanness 
of  Sage  in  doing  nothing  for  him.  Four  times  he  tried 
his  case  before  juries,  and  got  damages  twice,  once  for 
$25,000;  once  for  $40,000.  But  in  the  end  the  Court  of 
Appeals  decided  that  Sage  need  not  pay  the  money.  Mr. 
Choate  felt  and  said  that  the  court  had  gone  outside  of 
its  proper  province,  which  was  limited  to  decisions  about 
questions  of  law,  and  had  meddled  with  questions  of 
fact  which  juries  had  decided  and  which  should  not  have 
been  disturbed  by  the  higher  court. 

The  Sage  case  came  around  again  the  next  year  as 
appears  in  a  letter  dated  New  York,  June  18,  1895,  to 
his  wife: 

«  *  *  *  j  {iave  just  i-hjg  mmute  come  out  of  the  Sage 
case  and  the  Jury  are  now  sitting  upon  him.  What  they 
will  hatch  out  we  can  tell  better  by  and  bye.  *  *  * 

"  I  seem  to  have  all  sorts  of  cases  presented  to  me  now, 
as  at  four  o'clock  I  am  to  console  another  young  woman 
who  has  married  in  haste  and  repented  at  leisure.  *  *  *  " 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
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AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  50  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.00  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


JLL    V  1934 


_*- 


18May'61BB 


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MAY  4    1961 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


